Post-Panamax trio ordered by Hapag-Lloyd

Hapag-Lloyd has ordered three 100,000 DWT post-Panamax containerships from South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries. The 8,600TEU vessels will have a length of 335m, a width of 43m and the lead-ship will be delivered at the end of 2007 with the remaining two in 2008. Newbuildings must be ordered well in advance since world production capacity for very large containerships is fully utilized up to 2008 and take about nine months to build.

The German shipping company carried about 72 million TEUs globally by sea in 2004, 9% more than in 2003 and container transport volume is forecast to surge by about 30% or over 20 million boxes to reach close on 95 million by 2008. To meet this growth, Hapag-Lloyd is expanding its fleet from its current 51 to 61 ships by 2008. Four vessels will be delivered in 2005, one in 2006, three in 2007 and two in 2008.

Not only will the newbuildings be larger than the present ?Hamburg Express?, but their emissions will be even lower thanks to the deployment of state-of-the-art environment-friendly technology including MAN B&W diesel engines with an output of 68,640kW. These will consume less fuel and achieve a 30% reduction in nitrogen emissions while giving a speed of 25.2 knots. Consumption per container with a gross weight of about 15 tonnes is under 200g per tonne over 100 km.