Sri Lanka handled its first large-capacity carrier when the APL Chongqing anchored on December 19, 2011 at Colombo port, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) announced.
The 350-meter vessel, which has a capacity of 10,000 containers and is operated by APL, the container shipping arm of the Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines, docked at the state-run Jaya Container Terminal (JCT), the main transshipment facility in Colombo.
APL Chongqing is one of two newbuilds that were received by APL from Korean ship manufacturer Hyundai Heavy Industries this month and have been deployed on the Far East-Europe South China Express (SCX) loop. The two vessels are currently the largest in the fleet of APL.
The docking of the large-capacity ship was welcomed by the Sri Lankan authorities. “This heralds how container shipping will be like in the future with economies of scale becoming a major concern in ship building,” said Sri Lanka Ports Authority chairman Priyath Wickrama.
On the same day, Vietnam also handled its first call from an ultra-large ship, a 13,830-TEU vessel from CMA CGM, at the Cai Mep International Terminal (CMIT), the largest container vessel to call at a Vietnamese port.
CMIT said the call signaled a shift by shipping lines to deploy ultra-large boxlines on the Asia-Europe trade lanes.
Photo by jgmorard
