On October 30, the Rio Negro was christened at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. Ltd. (DSME) yard in Okpo (Korea). Following the Rio de la Plata and the Rio de Janeiro, she is the third new-build in a series of six identical container vessels, each with a slot capacity of 5,900 teu.
The sponsor of the Rio Negro is Daniela Oetker, wife of Alexander Oetker, Managing Director of the shipping company A.O. Schiffahrt GmbH & Co. KG. The Rio Negro is named after a tributary of the Amazon which rises in Columbia and then flows into the Amazon in Manaus (Brazil).
Following delivery on November 4, 2008, the Rio Negro will initially be deployed in Hamburg Süd's New Good Hope Express Service, which connects Asia and South Africa with South America East Coast. She is then scheduled to be phased into the shipping group's Europe - South America East Coast Service in March/April 2009.