The almost 400-metre-long and 61-metre-wide ship is the seventh in the series of 12 Megamax container freighters of the same name. The “Berlin Express” was christened a year ago. The new ship was christened in the Port of Hamburg by Eva Maria Tschentscher, wife of Hamburg’s mayor Peter Tschentscher.
The freighter, built in South Korea by Hanwha Ocean, can load exactly 23,660 TEU and runs primarily on liquefied natural gas (LNG), which emits around a quarter less CO₂ than marine diesel. The “dual-fuel” engine is also suitable for climate-neutral fuels such as bio-methane or e-methane as soon as they are available. According to the shipping company, the newbuilds in the series are the largest container ships ever to have sailed under the German flag.
Hapag-Lloyd upgrades Far East service
The ship arrived on its maiden voyage via the Chinese port of Ningbo and will continue to operate a liner service between Asia and Hamburg in future. It will be deployed in Hapag-Lloyd’s FE3 service, currently sailing around the Cape of Good Hope instead of through the Suez Canal. The next ports of call are Antwerp and Southampton.
The name “Hamburg Express” has a tradition for the Hamburg-based shipping company that goes back to the 1970s. The previous “Hamburg Express” was christened in August 2012 and has a capacity of 13,200 TEU. It has since been renamed “Dortmund Express”.
