Liner shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd has reportedly expanded its newbuilding portfolio with the containership Rio de Janeiro Express.
The Hamburg-based liner took delivery of the newly-built vessel and a festive naming ceremony was held at the port of Manzanillo in Mexico.
Along with its sister vessels, the Rio de Janeiro Express spans a length of 335 meters and a width of 51 meters. The new addition to Hapag Lloyd’s fleet can carry up to 13,200 20-foot standard containers, whilst it offers a number of 2,220 reefer plugs for temperature-sensitive cargo.
The containership Rio de Janeiro Express will operate in the AN1 service, having embarked on her journey from Busan in South Korea, and sailing directly to Manzanillo in Mexico.
Subsequently, the new container ship will continue her voyage to further ports of South America, including Lazaro Cardenas, Callao, Iquique, Puerto Angamos, Valparaiso, Coronel, and finally back to Asia.
In the Asian continent, the vessel will call at Yantian in Hong Kong, Keelung in Taiwan, Shanghai and Ningbo in China, before returning to the South Korean port of Busan.
The liner operator few months ago has celebrated the naming ceremony of the Montevideo Express in Cartagena, Colombia. Around 250 stakeholders and Hapag-Lloyd´s customers attended the event.
Together with its sister vessels the 335m long and 51m wide ship can carry up to 13,200 20-foot standard containers.
Dr. Maximilian Rothkopf, Chief Operating Officer (COO) said “this series of brand-new containerships will be strengthening Hapag-Lloyd’s position in the South America trades, especially with their 2,220 reefer plugs, which is the highest number of reefer connections installed on any single container vessel.”
Shipping Telegraph reported earlier in July that Hapag-Lloyd and Seaspan are cooperating with MAN Energy Solutions for methanol main engine retrofit solutions to their vessels, as the liner shipping operator Hapag-Lloyd plans to become net-zero carbon by 2045.
