The 18,300 TEU EEE-Class Marstal Maersk became the largest vessel to call the new Maasvlakte II expansion of the Port of Rotterdam last week, as part of the testing phase prior to regular weekly calls starting in February. The vessel is 399 metres (1,310 feet) long and 59 metres (194 feet) wide and sails in Maersk Line's AE10 Asia/Europe service with the next port of call being APM Terminals Tangier, Morocco.

APM Terminals Maasvlakte II has been designed to be the world's safest, most technologically advanced and automated container handling facility, and began landside commercial operations with the opening of the truck gates last month.

Sustainability also ranks high on the list of ambitions, with the recent signing of a two-year contract for environmentally-sustainable wind-generated electricity. This electricity will be used to drive virtually all terminal equipment, including the battery-driven lift Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) for container transport within the yard and the recently leased fleet of 35 Nissan e-NV200 electric vehicles for staff transportation on the terminal.