06.04.02
The bottle of champagne smashed on the bow of Hapag-Lloyd's second giant containership punctually at 10.45 Shanghai local time today. Doris Rupprecht named the newbuilding "Shanghai Express" in Hamburg's sister city.
After Hapag-Lloyd's first giant containership newbuilding was named the "Hamburg Express" in Hamburg in November 2001, the second vessel was named the "Shanghai Express" in Shanghai today by Doris Rupprecht, wife of Dr. Rudolf Rupprecht, the MAN executive board chairman. Shanghai is the sister city of Hamburg.
The two vessels belong to a series of four containerships each with a capacity of 7,500 standard containers due for delivery to Hapag-Lloyd up to the beginning of 2003. "This vessel will carry the name of the city all over the world, becoming in fact an ambassador for Shanghai. As we see it, this expresses our special relationship with this city and indeed China as a whole," emphasized Michael Behrendt, chairman of the executive board of Hapag-Lloyd AG, after the naming ceremony before over 200 invited guests, including the deputy mayor of Shanghai, Hang Zheng, the deputy director of Shanghai Port Authority, Lu Hai Hu, and the German general consul, Kurt Leonberger. Behrendt pointed out that container transport will be one of the long-term growth sectors, adding, "A very important region will be Asia, which accounts for over 40 percent of our transport volume. China will play a major role."
The "Shanghai Express" was built at Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, Korea. She has a length of 320 metres, width of 43 metres and capacity of 100,000 tonnes and can transport 7,500 standard containers. She can carry a maximum of 17 containers stacked next to one another on deck and up to 16 layers high. The main diesel has an output of over 93,000 hp, providing a service speed of 25.3 knots, or over 50 kilometres an hour.
Günther Casjens, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd Container Line, referred to the traditional customer relationship between MAN and the transport and logistics group Hapag-Lloyd. "With one exception, our containerships, now 30 in number, are powered by MAN engines. We greatly appreciate the reliability and performance of these plants, while you in turn rely on the expertise and quality of our logistics services for your shipments worldwide. We trust that we will enjoy an increasingly fruitful partnership," Casjens stated.
One hundred and thirty years ago, in 1872, Hapag-Lloyd operated the first regular service between Hamburg and Shanghai with two departures in month. Today the group offers its worldwide clientele twelve weekly services between Europe and Asia as well as America and Asia. Four of these also call at the Port of Shanghai.
Hapag-Lloyd (Asia) as regional headquarters is based in Singapore. Hapag-Lloyd has its own national companies in Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, Australia/New Zealand and China. In China, we have branches with their own business licence in Shanghai, Qingdao, Xiamen and Shenzen, as well as five representative offices. Hapag-Lloyd employs a staff of over 600 in its Region Asia/Australia.
|
