Afif

German shipping line Hapag-Lloyd has taken delivery of a new 15,000-TEU containership, the Afif. The vessel will serve the trades with South Korea, and was making its way to Busan.With a length of 368 metres and a width of 51 metres, the new mega ship is the first ship of this class to be painted in the Hapag-Lloyd colours and design, the company was cited as saying in a report by World Maritime News.By merging with Dubai-based United Arab Shipping Company (UASC), Hapag-Lloyd is strengthening its position as the fifth-largest liner shipping company in the world.Its 230 vessels have a total transport capacity of 1.6 million TEU. The average capacity of the ships is growing by 1,000 TEU, from 5,860 to 6,839 TEU.With the merger, Hapag-Lloyd's fleet was strengthened with 15,000 TEU+ ships. Before the move, the largest ships in Hapag-Lloyd's fleet were the ten Hamburg Express-class vessels, each with capacities of 13,200 TEU.