Hapag-Lloyd officially welcomed into its fleet the “Berlin Express”, the first ship of its new Hamburg Express class.
The Berlin Express was built by the Hanwha Ocean shipyard in South Korea. With a length of 400 metres and a breadth of 61 metres, the Berlin Express is the largest cargo ship under German flag. The ship has a capacity of 23,600 TEU, include 1,500 connections for reefer containers.
Thanks to their cutting-edge dual-fuel technology, they will also be able to operate using non-fossil fuels, such as bio-methane and e-methane, and thereby generate hardly any CO2 emissions. For the time being, liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be used, which will reduce CO2 emissions by up to 25 percent and soot emissions by 95 percent. In addition, advanced components – such as an optimised hull and a highly efficient propeller – will help the vessels to reduce fuel consumption and thereby greenhouse gas emissions.The container ship powered by a MAN main engine with an output of over 75,000 KW, enables it to reach a cruising speed of 22 knots.
The container ships in the Hamburg Express class will exclusively operate on the cargo-intensive Far East route 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.