World’s Largest Ship Arrives in Sweden

Following a short trip across the Kattegat, the North Sea bay separating Denmark and Sweden, the world’s first 18,000 TEU capacity vessel, the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, arrived in Gothenburg, Sweden where APM Terminals Gothenburg achieved a productivity level of 34 moves per hour (MPH) using four cranes as 623 containers were discharged and 981 loaded. The EEE-Class vessel made the 169 nautical mile (313 km/195 mile) crossing from the Danish port of Aarhus in nine hours for the final European stop on its maiden voyage.

“As the busiest container port in Scandinavia, we are very excited to welcome the newest standard in global shipping with a high operational performance for our terminal” said APM Terminals Gothenburg Managing Director Keld Pedersen.

The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller and the 19 other EEE-Class vessels will call Gothenburg regularly as part of Maersk Line’s A10 Far East/Europe Service which will be operated with Swiss-based Mediterranean Shipping Company and French-based CMA-CGM as part of the proposed P-3 Network.

APM Terminals assumed operational control of Skandia Container Terminal in January 2012 and is in the process of investing USD $115 million over the next five years of the 25-year concession in infrastructure and improvements, including the purchase of new cranes and new straddle carriers to increase terminal efficiency.

Gothenburg is the largest port in Sweden and the second largest Swedish city by population, handling 60% of all Swedish container traffic as well as 33% of all seaborne Swedish exports. The port is located on an island on Sweden’s west coast, approximately equidistant from Oslo and Copenhagen and serves as a natural hub for the region. Gothenburg’s total container throughput set a new record of 900,000 TEUs in 2012, with APM Terminals Gothenburg handling 822,000 TEUs of the traffic. Nearly half of all of the port’s container traffic moves by rail into and out of the facility. There are 26 rail shuttles linking Gothenburg with commercial and industrial centers in Sweden and Norway.

The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller will travel next to APM Terminals Tanger-Med, in Morocco before heading back to Shanghai through the Suez Canal to complete its first service loop.

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APM Terminals, August 29, 2013