The series of this ship type of the Deutsche Werft in Hamburg comprised five units, which were put into service between 1957 and 1961.
The type ship of the class was the Saarland , which was delivered on November 25, 1957 and was the only ship of the class to be used in the West Coast South America service. All other ships of the first construction variant entered the North America West Coast service. The end of the class were the two enlarged replicas of the Münsterland and the Kulmerland , which was handed over on April 27, 1961. Both were put into motion in the Australian service.
When Hapag merged with Norddeutscher Lloyd on September 1, 1970 , the Saarland-class ships were also transferred to the new shipping company. As early as 1971, the final ship of the series was sold to a Portuguese shipping company. The transformation of Hapag-Lloyd into a container liner shipping company continued until 1977. All remaining ships in the class were sold in 1977/78 and resold for scrapping by the later owners in the 1980s.
The longest journey in the Münsterland
The history of the class ship Münsterland is remarkable, which was locked in the Suez Canal for eight years together with 14 other ships (→ Yellow Fleet ) . On January 7, 1961, the ship began its maiden voyage in the Australian service, on which it was still used seven years later. On a return trip from Australia, the Münsterland was enclosed in the Suez Canal on June 5, 1967 when the Six Day War broke out . The freighter spent almost eight years at anchor in the Great Bitter Lake with a number of other trapped ships. Over the years, a hull crew kept the ship in good condition so that the Münsterland could leave the Suez Canal on its own when it reopened on May 7, 1975 and end its voyage back to Hamburg. The ship reached Hamburg on May 24, 1975 after seven years, 11 months and 2 days with great public sympathy and thus set the record for the longest round trip of a Hapag ship.
technology
The series consisted of two construction variants. The first four ships were slightly smaller, the final two units had a higher poop and a little more length and width. Saarland had ship refrigeration systems from Stal Astra for four cold stores with a total of around 50,000 cbft , around 10 percent of the total cargo space volume of around 516,000 cbft for general cargo. The most striking feature of the conventionally equipped ships were the versatile cargo facilities. The ships were equipped with 18 conventional cargo booms and two heavy lift booms . The superstructures were slightly streamlined .
The ships
Saarland class
execution
Ship name
Shipyard / construction number
Commissioning
Later names
Whereabouts
Basic variant
Saarland
German shipyard / 721
November 25, 1957
August 11, 1977 Franca
From November 1983 demolition in Alang
Basic variant
Havelland
German shipyard / 722
March 11, 1958
In October 1959, rescue of five sailors from the exploded Kümos Luz Martina in the Caribbean, August 4th 1977 Daniela
Demolition from February 13, 1983 in Gadani Beach
Basic variant
Vogtland
German shipyard / 753
September 8, 1959
August 22, 1977 Jutha Rajata
From January 23, 1985 demolition in Hong Kong
Basic variant
Rhineland
German shipyard / 754
December 30, 1959
August 11, 1977 Jutha Karnchana
Demolition from December 16, 1983 in Samut Prokarn / Bangkok
Enlarged variant
Münsterland
German shipyard / 764
December 29, 1960
Enclosed in the Suez Canal from June 5, 1967 to May 7, 1975, June 21, 1978 Munsterlandes
