{{Short description|Container ship}} {{Other uses|Tokyo Express (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox ship |display_title=ital |infobox_caption = ''Tokio Express'' |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=Tokio Express.jpg |image_caption=''Tokio Express'' off Calshot in 1988 }}
|section2={{Infobox ship/career |name={{ubl|''Tokio Express'' (1973–1984)|''Scandutch Edo'' (1984–1986)|''Tokio Express'' (1986–2000)}} |operator=Hapag-Lloyd<ref name=7seas/> |registry={{flagicon|Germany}} Hamburg<ref name=7seas/> |builder=Blohm + Voss, Hamburg<ref name=7seas/> |yard_number=878<ref name=7seas/> |laid_down=12 January 1971<ref name=7seas>{{cite web|title=TOKIO EXPRESS – 1973 – IMO 7232822|url=http://7seasvessels.com/?p=25148|website=7seasvessels.com|accessdate=28 October 2014}}</ref> |launched=2 November 1972<ref name=7seas/> |completed=12 April 1973<ref name=7seas/> |identification={{IMO|7232822}}<ref name=7seas/> |in_service=1973–2000 |fate=Scrapped 10 January 2000, Jiangyin, China }}
|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |class=Hamburg Express-Class (1973) Container ship |tonnage=*{{GRT|58082}}<ref name=7seas/> *{{DWT|49532}}<ref name=7seas/> |length={{convert|287.6|m|ft}}<ref name=7seas/> |beam={{convert|32.3|m|ft}}<ref name=7seas/> |power=Stal-Laval AP-40 turbo-electric steam turbine, {{convert|81,131|hp}}<ref name=7seas/> |propulsion=1 × fixed-pitch propeller<ref name=7seas/> |speed={{convert|23|kn|abbr=on}}<ref name=7seas/> }} }}
'''''Tokio Express''''' was a German-registered container ship built by Blohm + Voss in Hamburg in 1973 for Hapag-Lloyd.<ref name=7seas/> She formed part of the early generation of large-capacity container vessels developed during the expansion of global trade in the 1970s. Originally one of the Hamburg Express-class ships, ''Tokio Express'' served under various names and owners before being decommissioned in 2000.<ref>{{cite web |last= |first= |title=The Story of Lego Shipwreck with 5 Million Pieces of Lego Lost at Sea |url=https://www.marineinsight.com/know-more/the-story-of-lego-shipwreck-with-5-million-pieces-of-lego-lost-at-sea/ |website=Marine Insight |date= July 2024|access-date=7 May 2025}}</ref>
==Design and construction== ''Tokio Express'' was the third in a series of four Trio-class container ships commissioned by Hapag-Lloyd. Designed for global trade, the vessels had a capacity of around 3,000 TEU, which was significant for the time. Built with twin-screw propulsion originally, all ships in the class underwent conversion in the 1980s to single-screw propulsion, retaining one turbine for improved fuel efficiency.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.marineinsight.com/know-more/the-story-of-lego-shipwreck-with-5-million-pieces-of-lego-lost-at-sea/ |title=The Story of Lego Shipwreck with 5 Million Pieces of Lego Lost at Sea |website=Marine Insight |date=July 2024 |access-date=7 May 2025}}</ref>
==Operational history== The vessel entered service in April 1973 under Hapag-Lloyd and remained with the company for over a decade. In 1984, she was renamed ''Scandutch Edo'' following a change in charter arrangements. The name ''Tokio Express'' was restored in 1986 and retained through multiple ownership changes in the 1990s, including Pol Gulf International and Westwind International. The ship was finally scrapped in Jiangyin, China, in January 2000.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.marineinsight.com/know-more/the-story-of-lego-shipwreck-with-5-million-pieces-of-lego-lost-at-sea/ |title=The Story of Lego Shipwreck with 5 Million Pieces of Lego Lost at Sea |website=Marine Insight |date=July 2024 |access-date=7 May 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/42117802%40N06/51414889818 |title=TOKIO EXPRESS |author=TimWebb |date=19 September 1993 |website=Flickr |access-date=7 May 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/42117802%40N06/13545846514 |title=TOKIO EXPRESS |author=TimWebb |date=26 September 1980 |website=Flickr |access-date=7 May 2025}}</ref>
==1997 incident==
{{Main|1997 Lego spill}} On 13 February 1997, while en route from Rotterdam to New York City, ''Tokio Express'' encountered a rogue wave off the coast of Land's End. The impact caused the vessel to roll 60 degrees, resulting in the loss of 62 containers overboard.<ref name=BBC2014>{{cite web|last1=Cacciottolo|first1=Mario|title=The Cornish beaches where Lego keeps washing up|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28367198|website=BBC News|date=21 July 2014 |accessdate=28 October 2014}}</ref><ref name=seapix>{{cite web|last1=Coppock|first1=Trevor|title=Tokio Express, Scandutch Edo|url=http://www.seapixonline.com/nsphoto.php?pid=7406&hit=9&back=nsthumbs&mid=0&tot=10&typ=name&wds=Scandutch+Edo|website=seapixonline.com|accessdate=28 October 2014}}</ref>
Among these was a container carrying nearly 4.8 million Lego pieces, many from the "Lego Pirates" and "Lego Aquazone" ranges. In subsequent years, pieces from this container have been found washing up along the south-west coast of England, particularly in Cornwall, becoming a widely reported symbol of long-term marine plastic pollution.<ref name=atlantic>{{cite web|last1=Garber|first1=Megan|title=Why Are All These Legos Washing Up on the Beach?|work=The Atlantic|date=21 July 2014|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/07/why-are-all-these-legos-washing-up-on-the-beach/374739/}}</ref><ref name=Indy>{{cite web|last1=Gallivan|first1=Joseph|title=Life's a beach to comb|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/lifes-a-beach-to-comb-1173190.html |work=The Independent|accessdate=28 October 2014|date=22 August 1998}}</ref>
==Legacy== Although scrapped in 2000, the ''Tokio Express'' name has since been re-used by Hapag-Lloyd for a newer vessel launched the same year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hapag-lloyd.com/en/fleet/vessel_1546.html |title=Tokyo Express |publisher=Hapag-Lloyd}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Transport}} *''Hansa Carrier'' *Friendly Floatees *Curtis Ebbesmeyer *Marine plastic pollution
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.facebook.com/LegoLostAtSea Lego Lost at Sea – Facebook page tracking the Lego spill]
{{Lego}} {{1997 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tokio Express}} Category:Container ships Category:1972 ships Category:Ships built in Hamburg Category:Merchant ships of Germany Category:Maritime incidents in 1997 Category:Lego Category:Ocean pollution Category:Plastics and the environment