APM Terminals Rotterdam Welcomes World’s Largest Vessel (The Netherlands)

The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, the first of 20 EEE-Class 18,000 TEU capacity vessels now being delivered into the global container ship fleet, brought its first cargo of containers from the Far East to the APM Terminals Rotterdam terminal, in Europe’s largest and most important container port.

At 400 meters (nearly a quarter of a mile) in length and 59 meters wide, it is the largest vessel currently afloat of any kind, reaching 73 meters in height (as tall as a 24-story building).

“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” said APM Terminals Europe Portfolio Manager Ben Vree.

Of interest, APM Terminals Rotterdam set a new terminal productivity record on the vessel with berth productivity of 215 gross moves per hour and crane productivity of 37.1 gross moves per hour.

APM Terminals’ Rotterdam operations include the current terminal, which is equipped with 13 post-Panamax STS cranes with a 22-container wide reach, as well as the new automated Maasvlakte II terminal scheduled to open next year as the world’s most technologically-advanced container terminal providing a very high level of crane and yard automation as well as neutral CO2 emissions.

APM Terminals Rotterdam is one of the largest container terminals in Europe, handling 2.5 million TEUs in 2012, in Europe’s busiest container port, currently ranked 12th globally with 11.8 million TEUs handled last year. A recent productivity study released by the JOC Group named APM Terminals Rotterdam as the top terminal in Europe as measured by productivity in crane moves per hour (MPH), with 92 with a vessel alongside. In addition to ranking first in the JOC study’s Europe/Middle East/African region, APM Terminals Rotterdam ranked 11th globally among terminals in overall productivity, and 5th globally when working vessels of 8,000 TEU capacity and above, with 112 MPH.

The new APM Terminals Rotterdam Maasvlakte II facility will open with eight remote-controlled super post-Panamax STS cranes, the world’s first, and an annual throughput capacity of 2.7 million TEUs, with the capability of expanding to 4.5 million TEUs at full build-out.

The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, which was formally launched on June 17th, at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in Okpo, South Korea, and entered into service on July 15th at the South Korean port of Busan, with calls at Shanghai and Yantian, China, and the Port of Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia. The Rotterdam call will be followed by stops at APM Terminals Global Terminal Network facilities in Bremerhaven, Germany, Aarhus, Denmark, Gothenburg, Sweden and Tangiers, Morocco.

The remaining 19 Maersk Line EEE-class vessels, also for use on the Far East/Europe trade route, will be delivered through the summer of 2015. The China Shipping Company recently announced plans to order five 18,000 TEU capacity vessels of their own.

“To appreciate the scale of this type of vessel, keep in mind that if the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller was fully loaded with 18,000 TEUs packed with sneakers, it would be enough sports shoes for the entire populations of the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Denmark, Norway and Finland combined, with enough left over for everyone in Berlin as well- about 111 million pairs,” noted Mr. Vree, adding “and we are uniquely positioned to handle three of these ships simultaneously to offer liner operators the flexibility and innovation they require through our two quays in one port”.

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Press Release, August 19, 2013