Port of Gothenburg open for world's largest ships
The giants of the ocean are continuing to grow. Mediterranean Shipping Company is currently launching ships capable of carrying more than 19,000 containers. In December they will begin calling at the Port of Gothenburg. The first to arrive will be the newly christened MSC Maya, the Port Authority press release said.
"We are extremely pleased that MSC will be sailing between Asia and Gothenburg using its largest ships. This means a great deal for the competitiveness of Swedish industry as it is these vessels that offer direct services to the Far East and other parts of the world, said Magnus Kårestedt, Port of Gothenburg chief executive.
It was two years ago that Maersk's Triple E class ships arrived at the Port of Gothenburg, attracting considerable attention in the process. With a load capacity of 18,240 containers, they were the biggest in the world at the time. Now the Swiss shipping line MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company has topped the world list with its new Oscar class. The company has launched four ships in this class this year and a further 16 are on the way. They all have a load capacity of 19,224 containers.
Several of these supersize-vessels will be included in the MSC rotation between Gothenburg and the Far East. The first to arrive will be MSC Maya in December, followed by her sister ship Zoe in January.
"MSC Maya and MSC Zoe and their sister ships exemplifies MSC’s global hunger to grow our business. And we are very pleased with the calling of MSC Maya and MSC Zoe to Gothenburg port, as they will allow us to increase capacity and offer even more competitive transport between Sweden and Asia," said Lars Rexius, Managing Director of MSC Sweden.
The vessels will be handled at the container terminal at the Port of Gothenburg, APM Terminals Gothenburg.
“This call will be the largest one since we took over the container terminal almost four years ago. Since the start, we have invested over 800 million on several improvements, for example
new cranes and extended railtracks.Now we have an almost new terminal with an increased productivity and capacity, which of course feels very good, says Henrik Kristensen, Managing Director at APM Terminals Gothenburg.
The most common cargo ships in the seas around Scandinavia carry around 1,000 containers. MSC Maya is thus equivalent to 19 such vessels. She is 396 metres in length – equivalent to approximately four football pitches – and has a beam of 59 metres. If the 19,224 containers were to be placed end-to-end, they would stretch from Gothenburg to the town of Skara, a distance of 115 km. Stacked vertically, they would form a tower 50 km in height.
"MSC Maya and MSC Zoe symbolise the renewal that is taking place within our organisation. Not only do we have the youngest containership fleet in the world today. By incorporating state of the art technologies, such as the electronically controlled modern classic diesel engines, anti-fouling paint and auto pilot systems, MSC Maya and her sisters achieves remarkable level of efficiency and offers a healthier supply chain”, explains Lars Rexius.
MSC new supersize ships are all built at the DSME shipyard in South Korea, and they are named after the grandchildren of the founders of the company, Gianluigi Aponte.
Since August there are all together eight shipping lines offering direct services between the Port of Gothenburg and Far East. They are, in addition to MSC, the Singapore-based company APL, the Korean company Hyundai, Danish Maersk Line , the Japanese companies MOL and NYK, the German company Hapag Lloyd and the Hong Kong-based company OOCL.
About Port of Gothenburg
The Port of Gothenburg is the largest port in the Nordic region. 30 per cent of Swedish foreign trade passes through the Port of Gothenburg as well as 60 per cent of all container traffic. The Port of Gothenburg is the only port in Sweden with the capacity to receive the world's largest container vessels and has the broadest range of shipping routes within and outside Europe. The 25 rail shuttles that depart each day mean that companies throughout Sweden and Norway have a direct, environmentally smart link to the largest port in the Nordic region. The Port of Gothenburg has terminals for oil, cars, ro-ro, containers and passengers.