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German-based Hapag-Lloyd, a member of the Grand Alliance which calls
directly at Northport, Port Klang in the Europe-Asia run has ordered three
containerships to enable it to share in the continued growth forecast for
the container transport market.
The company will be expanding its fleet by ten newbuildings to 61 vessels by
2008.
Each 335m long by 43m wide with a capacity of 8,600 TEU, the vessels will be
built by the South Korean Hyundai Heavy Industries.
The first ship in the series will be delivered at the end of 2007, followed
by the remaining two in 2008.
“We want to make the most of the opportunities in the growing container
transport market and continue to improve our position, and we are creating
the prerequisites for this with our fleet expansion programme,” said Michael
Behrendt, chairman of Hapag-Lloyd’s executive board.
Hapag-Lloyd again achieved double-digit growth and outpaced the market on
average last year, transporting approximately 2.4 million TEU.
Hapag-Lloyd is expanding its fleet from its current 51 to 61 ships up to
2008.
Four vessels will be delivered in 2005, one in 2006, three in 2007 and two
in 2008.
These vessels will not only be larger than the present ‘Hamburg Express’
class – their emissions will also be lower due to the deployment of
environment-friendly technology.
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