EMEA News
World's Largest Containership Visits Jebel Ali Port
The world's largest containership, CMA CGM Marco Polo, visited Jebel Ali Port in Dubai Monday, a visit that port owner DP World said demonstrates the port's role as "a regional gateway for the new generation of mega liner vessels."
"We stand ready to serve these giants and the even larger vessels currently under construction," said Mohammed Al Muallem, senior vice president and managing director of DP World's UAE Region.
"Already today Jebel Ali Port is handling an average per week of three ultra-large container ships (ULCS) with a capacity of 14,000 TEU and above, and we anticipate that number will increase steadily in coming years."
Port officials said Jebel Ali is the largest manmade port in the world, with 22 berths and 78 cranes, and it will open a new $850 million container terminal in 2014, allowing it to handle up to 10 next-generation 18,000 TEU vessels at once.
The 16,020 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) Marco Polo, owned by French container line CMA CGM S.A., set sail from Ningbo, China on its maiden voyage in the fall.
The ship is part of a movement toward larger containerships, which can move cargo in a more fuel-efficient way than smaller ships, and 48 vessels with a capacity of over 10,000 TEU are scheduled to be delivered this year.
Braemer Seascope has predicted that 2013 will be the biggest year ever for containership deliveries, after large-scale demolitions this year kept total growth down.
