World's Largest Container Ship Continues To Impress The World

As the world’s newest largest container vessel - the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, continues it’s maiden voyage, it is giving Ports of Call an opportunity to test and determine how efficient their services really are. If they are able to handle the giant cargo ship effectively then they will be ready for the future of the quickly advancing shipping industry. These super-ships are the new wave of the future. as analysts have predicted that in the coming years, more than 50% of the container vessels sailing all around the world will have a capacity to handle more than 13,500 TEUs (twenty-foot-equivalent-unit).

The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, the first of the new class of cargo ships called the Triple-E’s, has been making headlines wherever it has stopped and the results have been impressive thus far. The three E’s stand for Economy of scale, Energy efficient and Environmentally improved and these designs are expected to set the standard for the shipping industry of the future. The giant ships measure 400 metres long and 59 metres wide and currently there are only less than 20 ports around the world capable of accommodating it’s massive size. That is expected to change as more than 140 countries and regions are busy upgrading and modernising their ports in preparation for the new burgeoning global economy expected to double by the year 2020.

The most recent stop for the world’s largest container ship was at APM Terminals Rotterdam and all indications was that it was an overwhelming success as reports indicated that a new terminal productivity record was set on the vessel with berth productivity of 215 gross moves per hour as well as crane productivity of 37.1 gross moves per hour. This was very encouraging for APM Terminals and bodes well for their confidence as their new automated Maasvlakte II terminal, currently under construction, is due to open next year, expecting to be the world’s most technologically-advanced container terminal of it’s kind.

"We welcome the very impressive future of global shipping here at APM Terminals Rotterdam, where we are ready to meet the challenges of the Ultra-Large Container Ship class vessels with the technology, infrastructure and efficiency these ships, and the shipping companies, require and expect."- APM Terminals Europe Portfolio Manager

Maersk has plans to have an additional 19 Triple-E vessels in the water serving the busy Far East/Europe trade route by 2015. These huge giant cargo ships represent the new era of global shipping that will one day see vessels that can carry up to 30,000 TEUs, perhaps as soon as 2030. Right now, the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller is the biggest of it’s kind in the world but it’s time in the spotlight will be limited as already China is expecting to launch even bigger vessels in the near future. The global economy is growing and right along with it are the size of the container ships, needed to meet the demand.