Tokio Express

{{Merge from|1997 Lego spill|date=May 2025|discuss=Talk:1997 Lego spill}}

{{Infobox ship begin

|display title=ital

|infobox caption = Tokio Express}}

{{Infobox ship image

|Ship image=Tokio Express.jpg

|Ship caption=Tokio Express off Calshot in 1988

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{{Infobox ship career

|Ship name={{ubl|Tokio Express (1973–1984)|Scandutch Edo (1984–1986)|Tokio Express (1986–2000)}}

|Ship operator=Hapag-Lloyd

|Ship registry={{flagicon|Germany}} Hamburg

|Ship builder=Blohm + Voss, Hamburg

|Ship yard number=878

|Ship laid down=12 January 1971{{cite web|title=TOKIO EXPRESS – 1973 – IMO 7232822|url=http://7seasvessels.com/?p=25148|website=7seasvessels.com|accessdate=28 October 2014}}

|Ship launched=2 November 1972

|Ship completed=12 April 1973

|Ship identification={{IMO|7232822}}

|Ship in service=1973–2000

|Ship fate=Scrapped 10 January 2000, Jiangyin, China

}}

{{Infobox ship characteristics

|Ship class=Hamburg Express-Class (1973) Container ship

|Ship tonnage=*{{GRT|58082}}

{{DWT|49532}}

|Ship length={{convert|287.6|m|ft}}

|Ship beam={{convert|32.3|m|ft}}

|Ship power=Stal-Laval AP-40 turbo-electric steam turbine, {{convert|81,131|hp}}

|Ship propulsion=1 × fixed-pitch propeller

|Ship speed={{convert|23|kn|abbr=on}}

}}

Tokio Express was a German-registered container ship built by Blohm + Voss in Hamburg in 1973 for Hapag-Lloyd. 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.{{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}}

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.{{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}}

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.{{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}}{{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}}{{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}}

1997 incident

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.{{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}}{{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}}

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.{{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/}}{{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}}

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.hapag-lloyd.com/en/fleet/vessel_1546.html |title=Tokyo Express |publisher=Hapag-Lloyd}}