Hapag-Lloyd has celebrated a twin naming at the shipyard of Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, Korea. The two containerships "Bremen Express" and "Tokyo Express" were built next to one another in the same dock. The container giants were completed in under four months. The 4,890 TEU vessels have a length of 294 metres, a width of 32 metres and a capacity of 67,000 tonnes. Service speed is 24 knots. Both ships sail under German flag.

Hapag-Lloyd is putting four more identical new buildings into service in the next few months. By the end of the year its fleet will consist of 29 large containerships. All ships will be deployed within the context of the Grand Alliance, the world’s largest consortium in international liner shipping. Apart from Hapag-Lloyd, the members of the alliance are four shipping lines from Asia and Europe. The partners deploy over 100 vessels in joint services on the main shipping routes between Europe, Asia and America.In March 2000, it ordered four 7,200 TEU containerships, which will be among the largest vessels worldwide, once again from Hyundai Heavy Industries, based in Ulsan, Korea. The vessels are due for delivery between 2001 and 2003.