The “Hamburg Express” – the eponymous flagship of Hapag-Lloyd’s “Hamburg Express” class – was ceremoniously christened at the Container Terminal Burchardkai in the Port of Hamburg, according to the company's release. As the ship’s naming patron, Eva Maria Tschentscher – Hamburg’s First Lady and the wife of Hamburg’s First Mayor Dr. Peter Tschentscher – performed the traditional christening of the container ship, which currently operates on the FE3 Far East service between Asia and Europe.
Dr. Peter Tschentscher, First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg: “The Hamburg Express is a flagship for the world-class shipping company Hapag-Lloyd and for Hamburg as a strong and cosmopolitan port city. The ship class sets new standards in sustainability and economic efficiency, making shipping even more climate-friendly. This is in line with the objectives of Hamburg's port strategy and climate protection policy. The naming of the ship underlines the deep connection between Hamburg and Hapag-Lloyd, which goes back more than 175 years. I wish the Hamburg Express and her crew safe voyages and always enough water under the keel!”.
The “Hamburg Express” is the seventh ship in a series of 12 newbuildings being built at the Hanwha Ocean shipyard in South Korea. With a length of 399 meters and a capacity of 23,660 TEU, these newbuildings are the largest container ships ever to sail under the German flag.
Thanks to their size, innovative design and LNG dual-fuel engines, the vessels in this class of ships will significantly boost efficiency per container transported and reduce emissions by 20 to 25 percent already in the near future.
With a fleet of 287 modern container ships and a total transport capacity of 2.2 million TEU, Hapag-Lloyd is one of the world’s leading liner shipping companies. In the Liner Shipping segment, the company has around 13,700 employees and 400 offices in 140 countries. Hapag-Lloyd has a container capacity of 3.2 million TEU – including one of the largest and most modern fleets of reefer containers. A total of 114 liner services worldwide ensure fast and reliable connections between more than 600 ports on all the continents. In the Terminal & Infrastructure segment, Hapag-Lloyd has equity stakes in 20 terminals in Europe, Latin America, the United States, India and North Africa. Around 2,900 employees are assigned to the Terminal & Infrastructure segment and provide complementary logistics services at selected locations in addition to the terminal activities.
