It all began on January 19, 1961, when the 4106gt Cap Corrientes berthed at Dunedin, representing the Hamburg-Sud group in this harbour for the first time.
Yesterday, and almost 50 years to the day, Bahia Grande, a vessel 10 times its size, made its first visit to Port Chalmers.
The ship is one of six "Bahia" class vessels ordered as Yard Nos 4129-4134 from the Okpo yard of the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Company Ltd.
They were delivered between February 9 and August 23, 2007, for operation under the Liberian flag.
And while the class leader is named Bahia, sister ships incorporate this as a prefix to their names, followed by Bianca, Castillo, Grande, Laura and Negra. All are registered to the ownership of single-ship companies that include the vessel's name.
Bahia Grande was the fourth of the class to enter service. Laid laid down on January 23, 2007, the ship was launched on April 7, and handed over on May 31. It is by far the largest and longest vessel to appear here in Hamburg-Sud colours, with a gross tonnage of 41,483, a figure also shared by its five sisters. Deadweight capacity is 53,176 tonnes.
The class was designed to carry 3630teu but their container capacity can also include 610feu (40ft equivalent units). They are also fitted with 844 reefer plugs.
The ice-strengthened, double hull Bahia Grande has an overall length of 254.07m, a breadth of 32.2m, a depth of 19.30m and a loaded draught of 12.400m. Propulsion machinery supplied by the Doosan Engine Company of Changwon, an eight-cylinder 26,160kW unit, gives a service speed of 22.40 knots.
Cap Corrientes was completed at Kiel on November 12, 1958, by Kieler Howaldtswereke AG. Sister ship Cap Domingo, the second unit of the fleet to call here on February 12, 1961, was delivered from the same builders on April 28, 1958.
These two 17.8-knot motor ships, the first two fully refrigerated vessels to join the fleet, were built to operate on the Hamburg-South America, Columbus Line and worldwide reefer services.
Both appeared here sporting the markings of the Horn Line of Hamburg in which the Hamburg-Sud/Oetker group obtained a shareholding in 1959.
They were employed in the New Zealand/United States west coast ports service of the Columbus Line.
The Columbus Line was a marketing brand name only and it never owned any ships. It was re-established in 1957 to operate cargo services between North and South America, thus resuming an earlier service that had operated until 1914.
In 1963, the Columbus Line inaugurated services between the East Coast of the US and Australia/New Zealand, via the Panama Canal.
Owned and chartered tonnage appeared here regularly until displaced by container ships, starting with the visit of Columbus New Zealand on its maiden voyage on June 26, 1971.
The 1187teu vessel was also the first container ship to join the Hamburg-Sud fleet.
Today, this company and its subsidiaries operate global container-ship services.
The North American link it established in l963, now known as the Trident service, has been maintained since July 2008, mainly by another series of Cap vessels, chartered 2824teu units of the Hyundai Mipo design.
So it is pleasing to see Hamburg-Sud-owned tonnage returning to this port with the visit of Bahia Grande. Other members of this class are expected to enter this service as smaller vessels are phased out due to the demand for increased capacity on the route.
When the Bahia sextet were being built, the company had taken delivery, since July 2004, of the Daewoo-built 69,132gt, 5560teu Monte Cervantes class. They have been eclipsed in size by another six from Daewoo, the 73,899gt, 5560teu and 1085feu, introduced with the delivery of Rio de la Plata in April 2008.
