''Houston Express'' is a cargo ship owned by the

Hapag-Lloyd Hapag-Lloyd AG is a German international shipping and container transportation company. Hapag-Lloyd was formed in 1970 through a merger of Hamburg-American Line (HAPAG) and North German Lloyd. History The company was formed on September 1, 19 ...

company of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, Germany, completed in 2005. The ship is capable of transporting up to 8,400

containers A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

at any one time. The Deadweight

Tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on '' tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically ...

is 107,000

metric tons The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton (United States c ...

and the maximum speed of this ship is . The ship is 332 meters long and has a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy * Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy ** Laser beam * Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized g ...

(or width) of 43.20 meters. The engines are capable of outputting 68,520

kilowatts The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James W ...

of power. The ''Houston Express'', as well as her sister ships '' Savannah Express'' and ''Mærsk Stralsund'', are owned by Norddeutsche Vermögen and managed by Norddeutsche Reederei H. Schuldt. The ships have been built in a series of five vessels. They feature the first

twisted leading edge full spade rudder Twisted may refer to: Film and television * ''Twisted'' (1986 film), a horror film by Adam Holender starring Christian Slater * ''Twisted'' (1996 film), a modern retelling of ''Oliver Twist'' * ''Twisted'', a 2011 Singapore Chinese film directed ...

(TLKSR) of

Becker Marine Systems Becker () is one of the German-language surnames, along with Bäcker and Baecker, that derive from the root, which refers to baking. The surname began as a name for a baker (and thus his family). In northern Germany it can also derive from the ...

. The 67sqm rudder avoids rudder

cavitation Cavitation is a phenomenon in which the static pressure of a liquid reduces to below the liquid's vapour pressure, leading to the formation of small vapor-filled cavities in the liquid. When subjected to higher pressure, these cavities, cal ...

and saves 2% fuel. In April 2015, the Houston Express rescued a 37-year-old man, Louis Jordan, whose capsized boat had left him adrift for 66 days.

References

External links

Merchant ships of Germany Container ships 2005 ships Ships built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering {{Merchantship-stub