Hapag Lloyd's new M/V Berlin Express pictured at the Container Terminal Burchardkai in the Port of Hamburg. Photo courtesy Hapag-Lloyd
German shipping line Hapag-Lloyd has christened the first of 12 new Hamburg Express-class containerships.
With a length of almost 400 meters and a capacity of 23,600 TEU, the M/V Berlin Express becomes the largest containership to sail under German flag. The ship was built at the Hanwha Ocean shipyard in South Korea.
Germany’s First Lady Elke Büdenbender christened the vessel during an event at the Container Terminal Burchardkai in the Port of Hamburg, attended by 300 guests including Peter Tschentscher, the First Mayor of Hamburg, and Daniel Günther, the Minister President of Schleswig-Holstein.
The Hamburg Express class will play a significant role in Hapag-Lloyd’s goal of operating a climate-neutral fleet by 2045. The state-of-the-art ships are equipped with dual-fuel engines, initially burning liquefied natural gas (LNG) and with the capability to operate on bio-methane and e-methane in the future. They will also feature optimized hull and a fuel efficient propeller.
“With the new Hamburg Express class, Hapag-Lloyd is at a turning point”, says CEO Rolf Habben Jansen. “The highly efficient ships will allow us to reduce our emissions immediately and to a very significant degree. At the same time, they are an important building block in our strategy to gradually push ahead with decarbonisation. All the vessels in this class will sail under German flag and thereby make an important contribution to strengthening Germany as a shipping hub.”
Berlin Express is the first of twelve new Hamburg Express-class ships to be put into service by 2025. The Hamburg Express class will operate exclusively on Far East routes between Asia and Europe. The “Berlin Express” will operate regularly on the FE3 service, which sails between Ningbo and Hamburg, via Xiamen, Kaohsiung, Yantian, Hong Kong, Singapore and Rotterdam.
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