'NEVER before has one of our company's vessels taken so much cargo on board,' said Hapag-Lloyd online periodical Insight.
'In late October, Hapag-Lloyd's Tihama set a new record: 18,609 TEU. The ship, which operates in Hapag-Lloyd's Far East Loop 2 (FE2) service, had gradually taken on this enormous number of containers at several ports in Asia - all bound for North Europe.
'The record of the Tihama is all the more astonishing as its declared capacity - 17,500 TEU - is well below this mark. However, declared capacity is a theoretical, purely mathematical figure that takes a large number of factors into account,' said the article.
'Among the limiting factors are draft restrictions and the capabilities of the container gantry cranes in ports of call.
However, with some clever planning and foresight, it is quite possible to surpass the declared capacity. In the case of the Tihama, the decisive factor was the average container weight.
'The theoretical calculation assigns each steel box a weight of 10 tonnes, but it actually turned out to be much lower in this case. This meant that an additional 1,109 TEU of cargo could be loaded on the Tihama without making it sit too low in the water to call at Southampton, its port of destination,' the article said.
WORLD SHIPPING
'In late October, Hapag-Lloyd's Tihama set a new record: 18,609 TEU. The ship, which operates in Hapag-Lloyd's Far East Loop 2 (FE2) service, had gradually taken on this enormous number of containers at several ports in Asia - all bound for North Europe.
'The record of the Tihama is all the more astonishing as its declared capacity - 17,500 TEU - is well below this mark. However, declared capacity is a theoretical, purely mathematical figure that takes a large number of factors into account,' said the article.
'Among the limiting factors are draft restrictions and the capabilities of the container gantry cranes in ports of call.
However, with some clever planning and foresight, it is quite possible to surpass the declared capacity. In the case of the Tihama, the decisive factor was the average container weight.
'The theoretical calculation assigns each steel box a weight of 10 tonnes, but it actually turned out to be much lower in this case. This meant that an additional 1,109 TEU of cargo could be loaded on the Tihama without making it sit too low in the water to call at Southampton, its port of destination,' the article said.
WORLD SHIPPING