The Hamburg Süd-operated container vessel Cap Gabriel has made its first visit to the Port of Hamburg as part of the Indian Ocean Service (IOS), the container service linking Europe, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent.

Working in partnership with vessels from Hapag-Lloyd, the port rotation for ships on the IOS service incorporates Hamburg, Tilbury, Antwerp, Gioia Tauro, Jebel Ali, Karachi, Mundra, Nhava Sheva before heading back to Hamburg via Gioia Tauro.

The newly-built Cap Gabriel, which measures 264m in length and has a 4,298 TEU capacity, will operate on the line that has replaced the terminated CMA-CGM venture, EPIC.

Cargo transhipments through the Port of Hamburg on routes to the Middle East and to India and Pakistan reached approximately 284,000 TEU and 261,000 TEU respectively in 2007.