Southampton shows it can dock mega ships with arrival of 16,000-TEUer
WITH the first of a new generation of containerships to enter service, ports in Europe and Asia are being put to the test and initial feedback is positive with no problems experienced to date by the 16,020-TEU CMA CGM Marco Polo.
The ship is the first in the world with a nominal capacity in excess of 16,000 TEU, but is only slightly larger than the 15,550 TEU Maersk ships that have been in service for several years.
But the CMA CGM ships will be calling at different ports than Maersk vessels, Southampton being one exception, noted London's Containerisation International.
The south of England port has been quietly smarting over recent remarks that Felixstowe was the only UK port able to handle the latest mega ships. It has now proved its critics wrong after CMA CGM Marco Polo berthed without a hitch, despite the relatively narrow approach to the DP World Southampton terminal.
"There were no problems," said terminal manager Chris Lewis. That view was endorsed by Velibor Krpan, the ship's master, who said that none of the ports at which CMA CGM Marco Polo had called so far on its maiden voyage had struggled to berth or work the 396 metre long, 53.6 metre wide ship with its 16 metre draft.
The ship will also be calling at Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge and Le Havre, as well as Malta, the Middle East and Asia. The ship can carry 21 rows of containers abeam, compared with 23 on the Maersk vessels, but many ports including Southampton are investing in cranes able to stretch across 24 rows of boxes.
Southampton has also shown container lines that it can handle two ultra-large boxships at the same time. The 10,700-TEU APL Barcelona, on the berth when CMA CGM Marco Polo arrived, was able to pass the French line's ship on departure without difficulty.
Southampton port director Doug Morrison believes that has finally answered any questions about whether the UK's second-largest container terminal was ready for the even larger boxships now entering service.
CMA CGM has another two vessels of just over 16,000 TEU on the way, while vessel-sharing partner Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) has three of the same capacity under construction. Maersk has 20 ships of 18,000 TEU on order that will enter service next year, but their UK port of call will be Felixstowe.
Although Southampton does not expect to catch up with Felixstowe, owned by Hong Kong's Hutchison Port Holdings, which handles 3.5 million TEU annually, Mr Morrison is confident that it can offer a competitive alternative that should allow volumes to grow substantially.
Despite business being flat because of weak economic conditions, "I see no reason why throughput should not be up to 2.5 million TEU in the future", he told Lloyd's List.
Associated British Ports, the landlord for the container berth under construction, is investing around GBP150 million (US$241 million) on that project, plus new cranes and dredging the main channel.