The ZIM HAMBURG reinforces Israel Express via Hamburg

The North Europe Service 1 (NE-1) run by shipowners ZIM Integrated Shipping Services and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company is the most important liner service linking Hamburg weekly with Israel via the Mediterranean. Transport volumes have grown continuously since 2007, in all by around 21 percent. In 2013 around 62,000 TEU (20-ft standard containers) were transported on seaborne container services along this route.

ZIM had already extended and restructured the NE 1 service at the beginning of 2013 in reaction to rising quantities and market requirements. Being deployed for the first time in the liner service from July onwards, the ZIM HAMBURG will provide greater transport capacities and a larger number of reefer container connections. The vessel is replacing a smaller one previously operating on this service. The ZIM HAMBURG berthed for the first time at EUROGATE Container Terminal Hamburg (CTH) on 7 July. From there she will regularly be making the round voyage to Antwerp, Le Havre, Ashdod, Alexandria, Haifa, Ashdod, Valencia, Felixstowe, Rotterdam and back again to Hamburg. The main cargoes shipped via Hamburg will be food and beverages, chemical products and machinery and equipment. From Israel come chemical products, food and beverages, and products of agriculture, forestry, hunting, forestry and fisheries.

The ZIM HAMBURG has a slot capacity of 6,350 TEU, including 500 for reefer containers. The ship was built in Japan, being delivered in May, 2009, and is 293 metres long, with a beam of 40 metres and a draft fully laden of 14 metres. “With the introduction of this new and larger ship we have adapted NE-1 to market requirements in respect of slot capacity and increased availability of reefer container connections. In addition, we are delighted to have a ship on this service that as the ZIM HAMBURG bears the name not only of our shipping company, but also of what for us is the most important port in Northern Europe. That well expresses our alliance with Hamburg as a seaport,” stressed Norbert Trapp, Managing Director of ZIM Germany GmbH.

The company marked the introduction of the ZIM HAMBURG on its North Europe Service 1 and her first call in Hamburg by inviting its business partners to an official reception on board. From the Hamburg side, Andreas Brummermann, Hamburg's Deputy Port Captain, and Ingo Egloff, Executive Board Member of Port of Hamburg Marketing, were there to welcome the ship and her crew. As a token of friendship, Andreas Brummermann presented Valentin Deliu, the captain of the ZIM HAMBURG, with the Port of Hamburg’s admiralty plaque.