Newest Container Ship in the Hapag-Lloyd Fleet Christened in Port of Hamburg

The maiden voyage of the ‘Hamburg Express’ reached its climax this week when the newest container ship in the Hapag-Lloyd fleet was christened in the Port of Hamburg by Eva-Maria Tschentscher, Hamburg’s First Lady and wife of the First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Peter Tschentscher.

photograph courtesy of Hapag-Lloyd

The flagship of the ‘Hamburg Express’ class is the largest container ship ever to sail under the German flag. This class consists of twelve container ships with a capacity of up to 23,664 TEU. The containerships of this class are 399m long and 61m wide. They are deployed on the strategically important East-West routes for Hapag-Lloyd.

The ‘Hamburg Express’ class is a key part of Hapag-Lloyd’s efforts to achieve ‘net zero’ operations for its fleet by 2045. All the ships in the class are powered by dual-fuel technology. Ideally, the ships will be able to run on green methane. This eliminates 95 per cent of greenhouse gases compared to conventional marine diesel. The ships can already run on LNG. This reduces by 15 to 25 percent, sulphur dioxide emissions by up to 95 percent and soot particles by 95 percent. Other innovations include an optimised hull, high-efficiency propellers and shore power.

Rolf Habben Jansen, chairman of the executive board of Hapag-Lloyd AG said, “But the ‘Hamburg Express’ is more than just a symbol of technological progress. It is already the fifth ship to bear this proud name. For us, Hamburg is much more than just our headquarters; it has been the home port of our ships for almost two centuries. The city is closely linked to the maritime heritage that has shaped our identity for more than 175 years,

Construction of the ‘Hamburg Express’ began on 25 November 2022 at the Hanwha Ocean shipyard in Okpo, South Korea.

Featured Title photograph courtesy of Hapag-Lloyd

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