Although long in the vanguard of containership technology, Germany's Hapag-Lloyd did not feel compelled to join the early rush towards vessels of wider-than-Panamax gauge. Once the prudent Hamburg company decided to embrace the concept, however, it opted for one of the largest and most powerful embodiments of the post-Panamax genre to date. Its planned commissioning this fall of the first of a new breed of 7,500-TEU linehaul carrier follows recent years' heavy investments in Panamax-optimized tonnage up to 4,890-TEU capacity, and signals a step change in unit scale economics applied to its Europe/Far East express service. The new behemoths will be of around 100,000-dwt and 80,000-gt, stowing 17 boxes abreast on the weatherdeck, within main dimensions of about 1,049 ft.