Maersk, MSC Boxship Heavyweights Breaking Australian Records

Western Australia’s Port of Fremantle is setting new records with the arrival of two Post Panamax containerships this month.

The first one, the 2016-built Maersk Skarstind, arrived in Fremantle on July 15, while the second one, the MSC Elma, is scheduled to arrive on July 20.

Capable of carrying more than 9,400 TEU each, around double the number on most container ships visiting Australia, the vessels feature a length of 300 meters and a width of 48 meters.

In the past week, both ships have been calling at major Australian container ports before they will make their last Australian calls for these visits at Fremantle.

While MSC Archimidis, which called at Fremantle late last year for the first time, is 17 meters longer than the ships, Maersk Skarstind and MSC Elma are wider, can carry more containers and have a larger gross tonnage.

In addition, Maersk Skarstind is the first twin-island container vessel to arrive in Australia.

“The Fremantle Inner Harbour can handle ships of this size and draft, the biggest container ships calling at Australian ports, and we expect to welcome even bigger ships in the future,” Chris Leatt-Hayter, Fremantle Ports CEO, said.

Fremantle handled 788,266 TEU during the financial year 2018-19, the port noted.