W-Kithira

With the arrival of the Maersk Kithira(6,802 TEUs) on Feb. 26,Maersk Line is launching its ME1 service in Wilhelmshaven. In addition to the Europe–Far East routes served by the 2M Alliance, shippers can now also book direct connections to the Middle East and India via Wilhelmshaven, the company said in its press release. The ME1 service (Europe-Middle East) links Northern Europe with Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and India. This is the third scheduled main ship service to include Germany’s only deep-water port on its route as a port of call. Less than a week ago, the first ship operated by the 2M Alliance, which serves Wilhelmshaven with two Europe–Far East services, called at the port. The services are supported by three regular feeder services operated by Seago Line to Scandinavia and the Baltic (Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Russia).

On Dec 1, 2014, the "Maersk Kithira" entered the port of Dubai to undergo repairs at Drydocks World after the collision with the "DS Kingdom" at Jeddah on Nov 22. The "Maersk Kithira" was hit in the starboard side stern by the "DS Kingdom" whilst berthing. It was estimated the repairs may take ten days. There were no reported cargo damages. With a contingency plan the delay to the cargo on board the vessel which was unloaded in Jebel Ali after the accident was to be minimised. The "DS Kingdom" headed for Kaoshiung with an ETA of Dec 12. Photo: http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=2153903