EMEA News
European Ports Grow to Accommodate Triple-E Ships
The entrance of Maersk Line's Triple E container ships into the Asia-Europe trade routes has pushed European ports to increase their capacity, Maritime Journal reports.
"Ports that will handle the Triple-E have obviously had to grow apace with the increasing size of vessels," the journal said.
"Industry pundits talk about even larger capacity ships in the future but at this stage in the story it is factors including port capabilities that influence the size and load factors of this latest class rather than dimensions of canals etc."
Triple-E ships, with beams of 59 meters, can use the Suez Canal but are too large the pass through even the expanded Panama Canal, limiting the routes they can use.
The Dutch port of Rotterdam was said to be of the best-prepared European ports for the growing number of large ships, with a capacity of 2.7 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), 1,600 meters of berth space, maximum alongside depth of 16.65 meters, and 13 post-Panamax ship-to-shore gantry cranes at APM Terminals.
A new terminal at Maasvlakete 2 in Rotterdam will provide even more capacity and greater automation when it opens in November 2014.
Bremerhaven, Germany's NTB North Sea Terminal is also prepared to handle giant ships, with 18 super-post-Panamax cranes, while the Port of Aarhus in Denmark has seven post-Panamax or super-post-Panamax cranes and is widening its approach channel for easier access.
Gdansk, Poland, the only Baltic port that the Maersk Mc-Kinney Møller visited during its maiden voyage, opened its Deepwater Container Terminal in 2007 and has plans for further expansion, while Gothenburg, Sweden is investing in upgrades, including three new super-post-Panamax cranes that will supplement existing cranes.
Another major port project is coming at DP World's London Gateway terminal, which will start operations this year.
DP World said in August that ships like the Triple-Es create "massive requirements" for ports on the routes they serve.
