This was the first time in the terminal’s history that four ships from the same shipping line berthed at the same time.
During the visit, DP World Southampton, recently crowned Port Operator of the Year, handled nearly 10,000 containers from the four vessels. Many of the containers carried goods destined for the UK’s retailers and high street businesses in readiness for Christmas.
Three of the four Hapag-Lloyd vessels were the new generation ultra large container ships (ULCS), each with nominal capacity of more than 13,000 TEU (twenty foot equivalent container units).
The Ludwigshafen Express, New York Express and Stuttgart Express were all making their first port of call on a rotation in Europe and later went on to call at Le Havre and Antwerp. The Hong Kong Express was making her last call of its European rotation before sailing to Singapore.
Chris Lewis, Managing Director, DP World Southampton, said: “Four sister vessels berthed at the same time was an impressive sight. We were very proud to welcome the “Express sisters” and look forward to more visits in the future. All the vessels were discharged and loaded in good time, as our customers have come to expect from Southampton.”
Hapag-Lloyd has been a customer of DP World Southampton since the terminal first opened in the 1970s.
Hapag-Lloyd is part of the G6 shipping alliance and, after the planned merger with Compañía Sudamericana de Vapores (CSAV), it will be the fourth largest shipping line in the world.