Rickmers Hamburg, the first of the new Rickmers-Linie Superflex Heavy multi-purpose container carrier (MPC) vessels to be delivered, was officially named in Hamburg on December 9. wife of Hamburg's minister of economic affairs, Gunnar Uldall, christened the vessel to much celebration. The pastor of St Jacobi Church in Hamburg, Lutz Mohaupt, blessed the crew and vessel. Leading the celebrations was Bertram R C Rickmers, the owner of Rickmers-Linie, with guests in attendance included Gunnar Uldall as well as numerous customers and business partners from across Germany and abroad. Rickmers Hamburg's maiden voyage took her from Shanghai via Masan (South Korea) and Hitachi (Japan) to the East Coast of North America.