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The
largest containership afloat, the
7,506 TEUs capacity Hamburg Express
belonging to Hapag Lloyd made its
maiden call to Northport at Port
Klang last week, demonstrating yet
another milestone in the growing
size of ships that have recently
started calling at the premier
Malaysian port.
Hamburg
Express is deployed by the leading
German shipping line in the direct
Asia Europe eastbound service or
loop D jointly served by members of
the New Grand Alliance (consisting
of Malaysian International Shipping
Corporation, P&O Nedlloyd,
Orient Overseas Container Line and
NYK).
The
320-metre long Hamburg Express, the
largest to call at Port Klang, is
capable of carrying 7,506 TEUs, with
a maximum of 17 containers stacked
next to one another on deck and 16
layers on top of one another,
including seven on deck.
The
main engine – easily the size of
an average house - has an output of
68,640 kW or over 93,000 hp,
providing a speed of over 25 knots,
or over 50 km/h.
The
propeller with its diameter of 9.1
metres and weight of 100 tonnes is
currently the world's largest
driving a containership.
The
managing director of Hapag Lloyds
(SEA) Sdn Bhd Dr Ralf Lisch said the
"Hamburg Express" was
built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in
Ulsan, South Korea and delivered to
the shipping line on February 14th
this year.
The
full rotation of eastbound service
is Port Klang, Singapore, Hong Kong,
Shanghai, Xiamen, Yantian, Hong
Kong, Southampton, Hamburg,
Rotterdam, Malta and Port Klang.
Commenting
on the slow down of the global
economy and over capacity situation
in the liner trade, Dr Lisch said
decisions to order a big ship like
Hamburg Class is cannot be based on
short-term market
fluctuations.
“In
fact our forecast shows that Hapag-Lloyd
will need additional capacity from
2004. As such the delivery of
additional three more newbuilding
will raise total Hapag-Lloyd
handling to more than 2 million TEUs
from present 1.7 million TEUs
globally,” he told NST.
He
said the company, which has reported
spectacular results of 2001, is
expecting a slower growth than the
global growth due to the lower
freight rates.
He
noted that freight rates in the
Asia-Europe trade lane are down by
US$500 per TEU in the last one year.
“However,
there is no complaints over the
volume and as such we need to
continue with our long term capacity
and investment strategy,” said Dr
Lisch.
With
the vessels now on order, by spring
2004 Hapag-Lloyd fleet will comprise
37 units, including 18 identical
ships with 4,900 TEUs capacity, as
well as the eight new buildings
capable of 6,750 TEUs or 7,500 TEUs
carrying capacity.
Hapag-Lloyd
provides over 40 services a week to
all the world's main business
centres. They include 16 departures
a week to Asia/Australia (including
the Middle East), 12 to North
America, 10 on the Pacific between
America and Asia and 5 between
Europe and South America.
Meanwhile,
in Bonn, the German shipping and
logistics group Hapag-Lloyd
announced that it has achieved
“the best year ever” results in
its 155-year history.
Its
outgoing chief executive Bernd Wrede
said the downward trend in world
trade hit the company, but not as
hard as others. “Our profit curve
is flattening, but we are still in
the black, including the fourth
quarter,” Wrede said.
In
the first three quarters, the
company’s operating profit after
depreciation and interest was up 19
per cent to Euros 250m
(US$219m).
“For
the full year, we expect a rise in
profits by 10%,” he added.
“We
grew considerably more strongly than
the market with its 1% to 2%,”
Wrede said.
“World
trade will grow more slowly, but it
will grow,” Wrede said. There
would be a growing discrepancy
between available tonnage and
demand.
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