The German containership newbuild Cap Gabriel recently made its first visit to when it docked at the HHLA Container Terminal Burchardkai (CTB). The CAP GABRIEL is operated by the Hamburg Süd shipping company and, together with vessels of the Hapag-Lloyd shipping company’s tonnage, is being deployed in the Indian Ocean Service (IOS) linking Europe, the and the Indian subcontinent. The port rotation in the IOS service is: , Tilbury,, Gioia Tauro, Jebel Ali, , Mundra, Nhava Sheva (Mumbai), Gioia.
The new service was created following the termination of the co-operative venture with CMA CGM in the Europe Consortium (EPIC) in May. The CMA CGM shipping line will continue as the sole operator of this service. The port rotation in the EPIC service is: Tilbury, , , , Port Said, UAE (Khor Fakkan / Jebel Ali), , Nhava Sheva (Mumbai), Mundra, Marsaxlokk, Tilbury.
The CAP GABRIEL is 264 m long, 32.20 m wide and has a carrying capacity of 4,298 TEU, including 600 slots for refrigerated containers (reefers). With a tonnage of 53,870 t, the vessel has a maximum draught of 12.75 m. The main engine is a MAN
B&W rated at 36,525 kW, giving the ship a cruising speed of 24 knots. Cargo transhipments through the of on the routes to the (Red Sea / Persian Gulf) and to / reached approx. 284,000 TEU and 261,000 TEU, respectively, for the year 2007. This represents around 5.5 per cent of the total containerised cargo handled in .
On the Red Sea / Persian Gulf route, exports in are dominated by shipments of machinery, electrical goods and vehicles. Imports are predominantly automotive parts, finished goods made of iron, tin and other metals, as well as shoes and clothing.
The bulk of container traffic with India / Pakistan is made up by imports, with shoes, clothing and other textile goods being imported via Hamburg. On the export side, the major cargo types are machinery, paper and cardboard. Non-containerised general cargo such as semi-finished products made of steel as well as large machinery and plant consignments are carried to the Indian subcontinent aboard multi-purpose vessels.