BBC Chartering Celebrates Naming of BBC Bremen

In a ceremony attended by nearly 100 guests, the BBC Bremen was officially christened in the Port of Bremen on Jan. 26. Following the christening, Magnus Deppe, chaplain of the Bremen Seamen's Mission, blessed the ship and its crew.

Anitta Schumann, chartering manager at the BBC Chartering’s Bremen office, acted as the godmother of the vessel. After wishing the BBC Bremen “fair winds and following seas”, the traditional bottle of champagne was broken on the ship’s hull.

“I was absolutely delighted to be nominated as godmother, this is a once in a lifetime experience,” said Schumann. “Even before, I always referred to it as ‘our ship’ [the ship of the Bremen office]. I feel very honored and am happy to be even more closely connected to this ship from now on.”

Knut Voigt, head of the Bremen office of BBC Chartering added: “We have a special relation to Bremen. BBC Chartering was founded here in the city in October 1997. The company then relocated its head office to Leer two years later, only to establish a new office here in 2002. We all at the Bremen office of BBC Chartering are very glad to welcome and celebrate ‘our ship’ here in Bremen.”

The BBC Bremen cast off immediately after the naming ceremony to continue her voyage to Hamburg, then further to Galveston and Houston in the U.S. Photo © OTD Media Tommy Döscher.

The BBC Bremen is number eight of a series of 15 LakerMax-type vessels. She was delivered to Briese Schiffahrt as owners and BBC Chartering as operator in September 2025. The vessel has sailed voyages for BBC Chartering. Prior to her Bremen-call, the BBC Bremen called Esbjerg in Denmark and Le Trait in France. After the loading call in Bremen, the vessel sails to Hamburg before heading toward the U.S., where its destinations are Galveston and Houston.

Like her sister vessels, the BBC Bremen is a multipurpose triple-decker equipped with two Liebherr LS250 shipboard cranes with a lifting capacity of up to 500 mtons. Her optimized deck layout and forward location of bridge and accommodation allow for unobstructed 2,830 sqm of space on the weather deck. With 26,000 cbm and 5,500 sqm covered floor space, the BBC Bremen is a true space miracle. In addition, her fuel consumption is less than that of vessels of comparable dimensions. This combination reduces GHG emissions per freight to carried by up to 30%.

Of the initial order of fifteen vessels of the LakerMax type, eleven vessels have been delivered. Meanwhile Briese Schiffahrt has added another six vessels firmly ordered, plus options on six more vessels. Deliveries are slated for the years 2028 and 2029.

Photo above right: The godmother of the BBC Bremen, Anitta Schumann, with Captain Maksym Aleynikov to her left, Knut Voigt (head of the BBC Chartering Bremen office) to her right, and Ulrich Ulrichs, CEO of BBC Chartering (right in the background) with the entire crew in front of the ship. Photo © Marko Stampehl