The Port of Tacoma officials Monday welcomed Hapag-Lloyd’s Dusseldorf Express, the first ship associated with the new Grand Alliance service at Washington United Terminals.

The 66,000-ton, 964-foot-long ship, which includes a 21-person crew, is the first of three new calls each week at the terminal.

The Grand Alliance is a consortium of three of the world’s largest shipping lines: Hapag-Lloyd (based in Germany), Orient Overseas Container Line (Hong Kong) and NYK Line (Japan) and associated carrier ZIM Integrated Shipping (Israel). The associated services will connect Tacoma to Europe and Central and South America, as well as Asia.

Washington United Terminals is a 105-acre container terminal on the Blair Waterway. The marine terminal features four post-Panamax and two super-post-Panamax cranes capable of handling the largest ships in the world, 51-foot water depth, on-dock rail and a newly extended berth measuring 2,600 feet.