RICKMERS largest vessel has called at the Burchardkai Terminal in the Port of Hamburg, Germany.

Built for the Rickmers Group by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, the 13,100-TEU Maersk Edinburgh is now on a 10-year charter to Maersk Line.

The ship has already been phased in to Maersk's new joint service with CMA CGM linking Asia and North Europe. As Maersk's AE8, the service will deploy 10 ships of this size, with each partner contributing five vessels.

The port rotation for the AE8 is: Ningbo, Shanghai, Shenzhen-Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Port Kelang, Le Havre, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Port Kelang, Singapore, and back to Ningbo.

By the end of August, the Maersk Edinburgh is expected to have been joined on this service by three more vessels owned by the Rickmers Group, with the Maersk Emden due to arrive in Hamburg at the end of August.

The Maersk Emden will be followed by the Maersk Eindhoven in September and the Maersk Essen in October. Four more 13,100-TEU Rickmers' vessels will join Maersk Line in 2011.

Source: shipping online