Green passenger ferry begins operating in Hamburg, Germany

Hadag’s green-energy hybrid passenger ferry has been christened Finkenwerder and put into operation.

Finkenwerder christening

The 33m ferry has capacity for up to 250 passengers and will be used on Hadag’s routes in the Port of Hamburg and on the Elbe. It is named after a Hamburg city district.

More than 200 invited guests from politics, authorities, the consulate and the media, plus partners and customers of Cosco Shipping and Hadag, attended the ceremony and were the first passengers on an exclusive tour around the Port of Hamburg.

During the official christening ceremony, Fu Xiangyang, chairman of Cosco Shipping (Europe), commented, “Cosco Shipping’s container ships have been an integral part of Hamburg’s cityscape for more than 40 years. Together we connect countries, people and cultures. In 1989 we opened our first office outside China in Hamburg as our new home in Europe. With the design of the new Hadag hybrid ferry, we are expressing our long-standing and close ties with Hamburg and supporting the city on its way to becoming a green metropolis.”

Paintwork

The ferry’s paintwork, developed by Cosco Shipping Europe, is intended to convey a message of friendship from the shipping company and the city of Hamburg to local people for at least the next three years.

On one side of the vessel, the silhouette of Hamburg and its port can be seen, while Cosco Shipping’s mascot, Captain Panda, welcomes passengers by waving the Hamburg flag. On the other side, Hamburg‘s role as a ‘gateway to the world’ is emphasized by connections on a world map, while Captain Panda holds a green leaf to underline the shared mission for a green and sustainable future.

In related news, Neuland, the first of three hybrid ships commissioned by the Port of Hamburg, has been christened by Hamburg’s deputy mayor Katharina Fegebank. Click here to read the full story.