MSC Marks Hamburg Partnership with Festival and LNG Vessel Launch

The city of Hamburg turned yellow over the weekend as Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) hosted its largest-ever public event to commemorate its growing partnership with the Port of Hamburg. The MSC Yellow Festival, held on Saturday, 14 June 2025, brought together more than 100,000 attendees for a day of music, maritime education, and the naming of the new LNG dual-fuel vessel, MSC Germany.

Set against the backdrop of Hamburg’s iconic Landungsbrücken and Jan-Fedder-Promenade, the free festival aimed to introduce MSC to the broader Hamburg community and highlight the company’s deepening ties with the city. Hamburg, often dubbed Germany’s “Gateway to the World,” has long played a strategic role in MSC’s history, tracing back to founder Gianluigi Aponte’s first ship purchase in the city over 50 years ago.

The event marked MSC’s recent acquisition of a stake in Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) in partnership with the Hamburg Senate. The collaboration seeks to modernize port infrastructure, increase cargo throughput, and establish MSC’s new German headquarters in HafenCity.

A Day of Culture, Entertainment, and Engagement

Throughout the day, festivalgoers enjoyed a rich lineup of street performances, interactive exhibits, and family-friendly activities. Highlights included flyboarding demonstrations, slacklining by a world record holder, live graffiti on an MSC container, and a food mile featuring global cuisine. A special exhibit area, the “MSC Harbours Experience,” offered hands-on learning opportunities about global shipping, sustainability initiatives, and maritime careers, housed inside repurposed containers.

Attendees were able to explore MSC’s work in logistics, sustainability, and seafaring life through games and VR simulations. Children enjoyed themed play zones, while job seekers had access to career resources via an MSC employment board.

Ceremony and Concert on the Elbe

The festival culminated in the official naming of MSC Germany, one of MSC’s newest LNG dual-fuel vessels, known for its advanced environmental performance. The naming ceremony took place near the Elbphilharmonie, with Dr. Melanie Leonhard, Hamburg’s Senator for Economy and Innovation, serving as the vessel’s godmother.

A nighttime concert featuring Hamburg-born singer Zoe Wees, accompanied by a floating stage on the Elbe River, closed out the celebration. Fireworks and a drone show lit up the skyline, marking the end of a memorable day.

Reaffirming Long-Term Commitment

In a nod to its philanthropic legacy, the MSC Foundation also announced a renewed partnership with Gesellschaft für ökologische Planung e.V. (GÖP), reinforcing its support for environmental education and stewardship in Hamburg—a city where the foundation’s first initiatives began in 2019.

The festival underscored MSC’s growing presence in Germany’s maritime sector and its ongoing commitment to sustainable shipping and community engagement.