Friday, 29 May, saw the "Monte Aconcagua", the last of a series of ten of Hamburg Süd's successful 5,552 TEU "Monte" class, christened in Hong Kong. The container ship's sponsor was Luise Klus, daughter of Dr Ingeborg von Schubert, Chairlwoman of the Advisory Board of the Gundlach Group, Bielefeld.
Following the naming ceremony, the "Monte Aconcagua" was phased into Hamburg Süd's Asia - South Africa/South America East Coast Service (New Good Hope Express).
In addition, Hamburg Süd will be adding three further "Rio" class vessels to its fleet until the end of the year. They have a container capacity of 5,900 TEU, making them one bay longer than the ships of
the "Monte" class. The "Rio" ships are to be phased into the shipping group's Europe - South America East Coast Service, gradually replacing the "Monte" vessels, which will then operate in the Asia -
South Africa/South America East Coast Service.
(Source: Transport Weekly)