Colombo Express is one of the largest container ships in the world. When launched in 2005, she was claimed by her owner to be the world's largest container ship.

Colombo Express holds , 730 refrigerated (reefer) TEUs, is 1099 feet (335 m) long, and has a beam

Beam (nautical)

The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...

, or width, of 140 feet (42.7 m). She is owned by the German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 shipping company Hapag-Lloyd

Hapag-Lloyd

Hapag-Lloyd is a German transportation company comprising a cargo container shipping line, Hapag-Lloyd AG, which in turn owns other subsidiaries such as Hapag-Lloyd Ships and a cruise line, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises which is now integrated into TUI AG, Hanover...

, and operated by its Hapag-Lloyd Container Line division. She is named for Colombo

Colombo

Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...

, the largest city in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

, which the predecessor company, North American Lloyd, first called on in 1886. She is the first of eight proposed Colombo Express Class vessels, and is only slightly larger (approximately 4%) than her Savannah Express Class cousins, the (700 reefer) ships Savannah Express

Savannah Express

Savannah Express is a container ship owned by the Hapag-Lloyd company out of Hamburg, Germany. She was completed in 2005. The ship is capable of transporting up to 8401 TEUs at any one time. The deadweight tonnage is 107,000 metric tons and the maximum speed of this ship is 25 knots. The ship...

and Houston Express

Houston Express

The Houston Express is a cargo ship owned by the Hapag-Lloyd company out of Hamburg, Germany and was completed in 2005. The ship is capable of transporting up to 8400 containers at any one time. The Deadweight Tonnage is 107,000 metric tons and the maximum speed of this ship is . The ship is 332...

.

Colombo Express measures 93,750 gross tons

Gross tonnage

Gross tonnage is a unitless index related to a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage...

 and had a deadweight

Deadweight tonnage

Deadweight tonnage is a measure of how much weight a ship is carrying or can safely carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, provisions, passengers, and crew...

 capacity of 104,400 metric tons. Her rated speed is 25 knots (49 km/h). Built in South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

 by Hyundai Heavy Industries

Hyundai Heavy Industries

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. is the world's largest shipbuilding company, headquartered in Ulsan, South Korea. The company is a subsidiary of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group...

 in 2004–2005, she was christened on 11 April 2005, and her diesel engine

Diesel engine

A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...

 generates 93500 hp of power.

Colombo Express operates out of the homeport of Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

, and will mainly travel from Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 to Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

 and back in 56-day round-trips.

Colombo Express class

Colombo Express class ships:

• Bremen Express
• Chicago Express
• Colombo Express
• Hanover Express
• Kuala Lumpur Express
• Kyoto Express
• Osaka Express
  Osaka Express
  Osaka Express is a container ship operated by the shipping company Hapag-Lloyd. This vessel has a capacity of and . It can achieve a speed of 25 kn. It belongs to the Colombo Express class of ships....
  
  
• Tsingtao Express