Hapag-Lloyd has renamed one of its vessels after the Port of Halifax. Hapag-Lloyd, a leading global container shipping company, has been calling the Port of Halifax for over 40 years. This is the first time a container vessel has been named after the Port of Halifax.

'We are proud of our long history with the Port of Halifax and wanted to recognize this relationship by naming a vessel after the city,' said Holger Oetjen, Managing Director, Hapag-Lloyd (Canada) Inc. 'The Halifax Express will sail to destinations in Asia as part of the PAX (Transpacific) Service and to Europe as part of the ATP Service.'

The Halifax Express is a Dallas Express Class vessel and has capacity for 4,890 TEUs (Twenty-foot equivalent units). The Halifax Express joins six other Dallas Express Class vessels including: the Dallas Express, Oakland Express, Rotterdam Express, Seoul Express, Singapore Express and Tokyo Express.

'We want to express our sincere gratitude to Hapag-Lloyd for naming this vessel after Halifax,' said Karen Oldfield, President & CEO, Halifax Port Authority. 'We value our long-standing relationships with Hapag-Lloyd and the name of this vessel is very symbolic to the importance they place on Halifax as a key port of call.'

A celebration was held onboard the ship to commemorate the naming.