South Korea's HMM claimed a new record on Thursday as it took delivery of the largest-ever containership.
The 23,964-teu HMM Algeciras was handed over at a ceremony attended by 160 people at DSME's yard in Okpo.
The previous biggest vessels were the six 23,756-teu behemoths owned by Mediterranean Shipping Co.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki were in attendance, together with other ministers from economy, shipping and finance departments.
"For me, it is very meaningful that HMM takes delivery of the most technologically advanced containership in this difficult time," Moon said.
"I would like to celebrate it and hope that HMM continues to secure a competitive advantage as a Korean national flagship carrier."
First Lady Kim Jung-sook served as godmother and cut the ropes to officially name the ship.
HMM Algeciras is the first of twelve such vessels that will join the HMM fleet through to September. They are costing $155.4m each.
The deal was signed in 2018 with three shipyards: Samsung Heavy Industries, DSME and Hyundai Heavy Industries, which is only building eight 16,000-teu ships, not the 300-metre giants being constructed at the other two yards.
The move was a bid to "take proactive actions towards market change as well as form a sustainable profit-generating structure", the company said.
All 20 newbuildings are scrubber-fitted.
HMM plans to enhance its environmental capabilities by operating the vessels, it added.
Optimised hull designs and highly-efficient engines are also expected to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions, it said.
HMM chief executive Bae Jae Hoon added: "HMM will strive to expand its presence in the global shipping industry based on optimised fleet management and new cooperation with THE Alliance."
The HMM Algeciras will be deployed on the Far East Europe 4 (FE4) service, one of the Asia-North Europe trade lanes of THE Alliance.
Port calls will be Qingdao, Busan, Ningbo, Shanghai, Yantian, Suez Canal, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, London Gateway and then Singapore via the Suez Canal.
