Valparaíso Express is the name given by Hapag-Lloyd for the first of its five new vessels in its new 10,500 TEU class containerships in a naming ceremony which was held recently.
Rozío Gonzaléz, wife of Andrónico Luksic, Chairman of the Board of the Quiñenco Group who performed the ceremony at the Terminal Pacifico Sur (TPS) named the maiden ship in the port of Valparaíso, where the new ship will call regularly going forward. The Quiñenco Group is the largest shareholder of CSAV, one of the three controlling shareholders of the Hapag-Lloyd.
The maiden vessel in the new Valparaíso Express class will set sail in the revised Europe – South America West Coast service of Hapag-Lloyd in which four of the five new buildings are replacing older Panamax ships, while a second Panamax size loop (SW2) and two slot charter agreements (EW1 and EW2) in the same trade lane will be terminated.
Hapag-Lloyd has planned to deploy more efficient vessels between North Europe and South America West Coast without adding significant capacity to the market, the shipper said. This is a premium service in this trade covering the major markets in North Europe, the Caribbean, and West Coast South America.
The round trip of the Valparaíso Express will be scheduled to take nine weeks with the following port rotation: Rotterdam, London, Hamburg, Antwerp, Le Havre, Caucedo, Cartagena, Manzanillo (Panama), Buenaventura, Callao, Puerto Angamos, Valparaíso, Callao, Buenaventura, Manzanillo (Panama), Cartagena, Caucedo and Rotterdam.
Anthony J. Firmin, Chief Operating Officer at Hapag-Lloyd said, “The entry into the Post-Panamax ship class in this trade lane is ensuring that Hapag-Lloyd stays competitive as one of the market leaders after the expansion of the Panama Canal. South America and especially Chile are very important markets for us and we will be able to serve particularly our reefer customers much better with the new ships.”
The second vessel delivered:
The second vessel from the series ordered in April 2015 was delivered to Hapag-Lloyd at the Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea. The remaining three ships are due for delivery by April next year.
Thanks to innovative onboard technology, Hapag-Lloyd said the five ships, each to sail under the German flag and be classified by DNVGL, will set high environmental standards and achieve particularly low figures for fuel consumption and emissions.
Specifications of the vessel:
- Length: 333 meters
- Width: 48 meters wide
- Height: 63.5 meters
- Rows: 19 rows of container side by side
- Max capacity: 123,500 metric tons
- Max draft: 14 meters
- Cargo holds: 8 (nine tiers of containers)
- Decks: 9 (nine tiers of containers)
- Total capacity: 10,593 TEU including 2,100 plugs for reefer containers
Did you subscribe for our daily newsletter?
It’s Free! Click here to Subscribe!
Source: Hapag-Lloyd
