On March 8, Egypt’s Port Said East welcomed the 18,300 TEU containership Mette Maersk, which became the second Triple-E class vessel to call an Egyptian port and the first with a commercial stop at the port’s Suez Canal Container Terminal (SCCT).
Owned by Danish container shipping giant Maersk Line, the 2015-built Mette Maersk features a length of 399.2 meters and a width of 59 meters.
In late-February, Maersk Mette’s sister ship Maren Maersk became the largest vessel ever to call a port in Egypt.
Maren Maersk arrived for a trial visit to the recently deepened APM Terminals’ network facility at the mouth of the Suez Canal on the Mediterranean Sea, now that the side channel and port basin have been dredged to a depth of 18.5 meters, allowing SCCT to accommodate ultra large container vessels (ULCVs).
The dredging project was carried out in partnership between APM Terminals, the majority shareholder of SCCT, and the Egyptian government and local authorities with the aim at increasing the operational potential of the terminal. The terminal is expanding its annual container throughput capacity to 5.4 million TEUs.
“With 2,400 meters of quay with a depth of 17.5-18.5 meters, and after putting into operation six Triple-E class-compatible cranes, we are able to accommodate the world’s largest containerships, of up to 400 meters in length, at a maximum depth of 17 meters,” Jan Buijze, SCCT Terminal Manager , noted.
“In partnership with the Egyptian government, we are transforming Port Said East into a strategic container handling axis for the region” Hany Al Nady, SCCT Director of Public and Government Relations , pointed out.
A total of USD 850 million has been invested in SCCT since the opening of the facility in 2004.
Image Courtesy: SCCT