Hamburg Süd has christened its newest containership, the Polar Ecuador, at Belgian New Fruit Wharf in the Port of Antwerp.
The Polar Ecuador will be deployed on the company’s North Europe-Mexico/Caribbean service (EMCS), which connects Antwerp and other European ports in Ireland, the UK and Germany with important Mexican and Caribbean ports.
“Antwerp is a highly important port for Hamburg Süd, and the Belgian New Fruit Wharf is a very suitable place for the christening of a Polar-class vessel,” said Frank Smet, chief commercial officer of Hamburg Süd.
“After all, with more than 1,000 reefer plugs, the ‘Polar Ecuador’ transports a disproportionately large volume of refrigerated cargo for a container vessel of this size from Mexico and the Caribbean to Antwerp. This includes, for example, bananas, pineapples and melons, which are handled particularly efficiently and professionally by the fruit and reefer specialists here.”
The Polar Ecuador belongs to a group of four structurally identical vessels in the Polar class that have been built for Hamburg Süd by the Chinese shipyard Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding.
With a total length of 230m and a width of 37.30m, the ship offers a container storage capacity of 3,800 TEU and is equipped with 1,000 reefer plugs.
Antwerp is one of the most important destinations in the region for onward distribution to other European markets, especially for bananas.
Hamburg Süd has had its own office in Antwerp since 1996, where some 50 employees now work.
