Hamburg Süd will deploy its six new 3,800-TEU, 50,200-tdw container ships in the service between the United States Atlantic ports and South America's East Coast. Five of the ships, ordered from Samsung Heavy Industry in Korea, will be delivered in 2001. The sixth vessel will enter service in February 2002.
Deployment of these container ships, which will not only be the largest in the trade but also within the shipping group, is not planned as an addition to capacity on these routes. Work is underway on a concept that envisages structural changes in the three separate Interamericas services operated at present by the Hamburg Süd Group and its partners. The aim is to offset additional capacity of the new vessels by withdrawing a larger number of small vessels, thus avoiding overcapacity in this trade. Any revisions to the services provided by the Hamburg Süd Group and its partners will be implemented in accordance with any applicable regulatory requirements.
