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[Offshore Energy/ August 4, 2023] German shipping major Hapag-Lloyd has taken delivery of the second 23,600 TEU containership powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Hanwha Ocean.

As informed, the new vessel was christened Manilla Express in a ceremony held on 3 August. Manila Express and its sister vessels span a length of 400 meters, a width of 61 meters and have an impressive capacity of 23,600 TEU.

Hapag Lloyd noted that the boxship will sail in its FE3 service that starts in Ningbo.

“From there, the vessel will sail to Xiamen, Kaohsiung, Yantian, Singapore, Rotterdam and from there to our hometown Hamburg, where we expect her mid of September. From Hamburg she will sail to Antwerp, Southampton, Algeciras, Singapore, Yantian and Hong Kong,” the German shipowner noted.

In late 2020 and mid-2021, the European ocean carrier ordered a dozen of new ultra large container vessels (ULCVs) from Hanwha Ocean.

The vessels will be fitted with fuel-efficient high-pressure dual-fuel engines, that will operate on LNG, but they will have alternatively sufficient tank capacity to operate on conventional fuel.

The last vessel from the series is expected to be completed and delivered on 31 December 2024.

Upon delivery, the newbuilds will be deployed on the Europe-Far East routes as part of THE Alliance.

Recently, one of Hapag-Lloyd’s 23,600 TEU giants was bunkered with LNG in China. The boxship Berlin Express received the fuel from energy company World Fuel Services Corporation.​