Built in 2009, the MATHILDE MAERSK with her length of 367 metres and breadth of 43 metres, and slot capacity of around 9,700 TEU (20-ft standard containers) belongs to the generation of VLCS (Very Large Container Ships). Fully loaded, the vessel’s draught reaches 15 metres. The AE-6 Asia-Europe Service is operated in combination with the TP-6 Transpacific Service, with a total of 14 vessels with slot capacities of between 9,500 and 9,700 TEU.
From Hamburg the route for the voyage is initially towards Asia, then onwards to the US West Coast. In the rotation from Hamburg, calls are made at the following ports: Felixstowe, Le Havre, Suez Canal, Salalah, Tanjung Pelepas, Vung Tau, Nansha, Yantian, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Algeciras, Bremerhaven, and back to Hamburg.
Last year the Port of Hamburg’s total container throughput on the two trade routes East Asia and North America was able to achieve disproportionately strong growth. The services between Hamburg and the United States of America reported the steepest increase with 81.6 percent to 297,000 TEU assuring the USA of an advance from twelfth into sixth place among the Port of Hamburg’s leading foreign trade partners. Asia, with total transport volume of 5.2 million TEU (up by 8.8 percent), once again retained top position among trade routes served by the Port of Hamburg in 2011.
