German liner giant Hapag-Lloyd has welcomed another “Hamburg Express” series container ship to its fleet.
Recently, Hanwha Ocean held a naming ceremony for the 240,000 TEU LNG-powered ultra-large container vessel “Genova Express” for Hapag-Lloyd, which is expected to be commissioned on the Far East-North Europe route soon as part of Hapag-Lloyd’s new Gemini Cooperation.
Hapag-Lloyd’s Hamburg Express series is understood to be one of 12 LNG dual-fuel-powered container ships designed to use alternative fuels such as green methane in the future.
In December 2022 and June 2023, Hapag-Lloyd placed two orders with Hanwha Ocean for the above-mentioned 12 ships. The first ship in the series, the Berlin Express, was delivered in July 2023, and this naming is the 10th in a series of 12 vessels. This series of container ships is the “largest container ship” sailing under the German flag.
Thanks to the ship’s specifications, design and LNG dual-fuel engines, this series of container ships is expected to improve the transportation efficiency of each container and reduce emissions by 20% to 25% in the future.
Also according to Greek shipbroker Intermodal, Hapag-Lloyd is interested in ordering six 16,800 TEU container ships from Hanwha Ocean at the beginning of 2025, but has not yet made a final decision. If the order is formalized, the six new ships will be equipped with LNG dual-fuel propulsion systems and are scheduled to be delivered from 2027 onwards, at a reported cost of $200 million each, which would bring the total value to $1.2 billion.