Ophelia for ZIM

 ZIM's two year old ZIM Colibri Express (ZCX) service continues to use a variety of chartered tonnage. Since the service from the west coast of South America to the Caribbean and US East Coast US was announced February 1, 2023 it has expanded to Halifax and has been combined with a previous service called the Canada Feeder Express (CFX). Initially using six 1700 TEU ships, it has been marketed as a weekly premium line with fast transit tomes and large reefer capacity. It appears they are now able to maintain the service with five ships.

Today's (January 28) arrival made port just before a short heavy snow squall reduced visibility to zero.

 

The ship was built in 2018 by Guangzhou Wenchong and is rated 17,907 gt, 22,000 dwt. Its operators, Leonhardt + Blumberg of Hamburg, give its capacity as 1717 TEU with 362 reefer plugs, 202 of which are in the holds. On arrival today from New York it appeared to be carrying a good many reefers - but many of them would have to be empties.

The port rotation for the line is: Callao - Paita - Guayaquil - Panama Canal. - Kingston - Miami - Philadelphia - New York - Halifax - Kingston - Panama Canal. - Calla.

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Ophelia for ZIM

 As reported November 4, ZIM has joined the former CFX (Canada Feeder Express) with its ZCX Colibri Express west coast South America service. The service operates to numerous North and South American ports from ZIM's Kingston, Jamaica hub.

 Today's arrival on that run is the Ophelia on charter from the long standing German operators Leonhardt + Blumberg (founded in 1903).

 Leonhardt + Blumberg now operates 27 feeder container carriers and five product tankers. Ophelia is fairly typical at 17,907 gt, 21,700 dwt. Dating from 2018, it was delivered by Guangzhou Wenchong. Its capacity is 1717 TEU with 362 reefer plugs, 202 of which are in the holds. South America is a major exporter of produce to Canada, as is ZIM, so the number of temperature controlled boxes on deck is not surprising. The number of loads of course is unkown.

Just below the starboard bridge wing the world "Buss" appears with a red symbol. According to available references Buss were listed as managers for a short time in 2018. The Buss company is multi-faceted with interests in shipping, resources, real estate and terminal operation and is a shareholder in Leonhardt + Blumberg.

The name Ophelia is an odd one for a ship, as the character in Shakespeare's Hamlet (and subsequent operas and movies) lost her mind and drowned. The name is not Danish however but is Greek, as are two other L+B feeders, Octavia and Olympia.

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