World's largest container ship arrived at Port of Rotterdam
MSC Gülsün arrived at the APMT 2 terminal quay in the Port of Rotterdam on Tuesday, 3 September at 14.00 hours. The vessel, 400 metres long and with a beam of 62 metres, has a 23,756-TEU (twenty-foot standard containers) capacity, making it the world’s largest container ship. MSC Gülsün is the first container ship capable of transporting 24 containers side by side across the breadth of its hull. The OOCL HongKong, taken into operation two years ago, was the largest containership until now, with a capacity of 21,413 TEU.
‘Increased scale in container shipping is good for the Port of Rotterdam’s competitive position,’ stated Hans Nagtegaal, Container Manager at the Port of Rotterdam Authority during the arrival of MSC Gülsün. ‘With depths of 20 metres, we are convinced we can also welcome the 30,000 TEU vessels. The quays are also strong enough to accommodate larger cranes. Our immediate competitors don’t have anywhere near such depths,’ stated Nagtegaal.
‘Two new, modern terminals were taken into operation on Maasvlakte 2 in early 2015: RWG and APMT MVII. But the other container terminals on Maasvlakte, ECT Delta and Euromax, are also equipped to receive these kinds of vessels,’ Nagtegaal continued.
MSC Gülsün came from Gdansk and and left to Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia on 5 September at 16.00 hours.