A new record was set in the Deurganck dock in the port of Antwerp on 9 June 2017 when the “Madrid Maersk” moored there for the first time. With a length of 399 metres and a capacity of 20,568 TEU it is the largest container ship ever to call at the port. During its stay 300 dockers worked non-stop to load and unload 7,000 containers.
But not alone the dockers are hard at work whenever such a giant container carrier calls at Antwerp. The number of people working in and around the port to pilot the ship in, load and unload the containers, transport them to their destination, empty and process their contents etc. comes to around 1,900 per call.
The “Madrid Maersk” belongs to the second generation of Triple-E ships operated by the Danish shipping company Maersk Line. In comparison with the first generation of Triple-E ships, these giant container carriers can take up to 2,000 more containers. The second generation consists of a series of 11 ships, of which the “Madrid Maersk” is the first to enter service. These ships will eventually replace the older, less efficient vessels.
It was exactly 50 years ago that the first container carrier arrived at Antwerp, when the “Atlantic Span” took two weeks to load and unload 700 containers in September 1967. Since then the container ships have grown ever larger, with record after record being broken. From January to May this year 68 container carriers in the category 14,000 to 18,000 TEU have already called at Antwerp. In the +18,000 TEU category the counter stands at 43 after the first five months of 2017.
www.maersk.com; www.portofantwerp.com
