Colombo Express was one of the largest container ships in the world. When launched in 2005, she was claimed by her owner to be the world's largest container ship, a title she held until Emma Mærsk was launched in 2006. Colombo Express holds, 730 refrigerated (reefer) TEUs, is 1099 ft long, and has a beam, or width, of 140 ft. She is owned by the German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd, and operated by its Hapag-Lloyd Container Line division. She is named for Colombo, the largest city in Sri Lanka, which the predecessor company, North American Lloyd, first called on in 1886. She is the first of eight proposed Colombo Express class vessels, and is only slightly larger (approximately 4%) than her Savannah Express class cousins, the (700 reefer) ships Savannah Express and Houston Express. Colombo Express has a gross tonnage of 93,750 and had a deadweight capacity of 104,400 tonnes. Her rated speed is 25.0 kn. Built in South Korea by Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2004–2005, she was christened on 11 April 2005, and her diesel engine generates 93500 hp of power. Colombo Express operates out of the home port of Hamburg, and will mainly travel from Europe to Southeast Asia and back in 56-day round-trips.

Collision with Maersk Tanjong

On 29 September 2014, Colombo Express was involved in a collision with MV Maersk Tanjong, sustained a 65 ft dent to its left side and causing delays to traffic through the Suez Canal. Footage of the incident was caught on video by a spectator and posted on YouTube.

Colombo Express class

Colombo Express class ships: