Largest container ship in the world calls on Port of Antwerp
The container ship HMM Algeciras arrived at the Port of Antwerp last night to load and unload containers at the North Sea Terminal of container handler PSA. It is the newest and largest container ship in the world.
The ship can carry 23,964 TEU (20-foot containers). The Korean ship was delivered on 24 April by the shipyard Daewoo Shipping & Marine Engineering's Okpo. It is 400 metres long, 61 metres wide and has 23 crew members. The ship is from Yantian (China) and departs for London on Saturday 13 June at 5:30am.
Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO Port of Antwerp: "At the Port of Antwerp, we are resilient. We remained 100% operational during the pandemic, and while we will also see the effects of the coronavirus crisis on our figures, we continue to look ahead with faith in the future. We are delighted to welcome the HMM Algeciras. In doing so, we are showing that our port can receive the largest container ships. This puts Antwerp in a good position for further up-scaling. It is our ambition to continue to grow as a port in a sustainable way, with a finger firmly on the pulse of the global economic situation.”
Jae-hoon Bae, President and CEO of HMM: “Last April was very important for HMM because of two historic events. One of these was the completion of our rebranding process, with the adoption of our official company name 'HMM'. The other was the delivery of HMM Algeciras, the world's largest 24K-class container ship. The debut of HMM Algeciras in Europe and the first call at the Port of Antwerp has enormous symbolic significance. I believe that 24K-class ships will serve to ensure a mutual partnership between the Port of Antwerp and HMM.”
Annick De Ridder, port alderman: “Our port continues to dedicate itself successfully to sustainable growth and the arrival of the largest container ship in the world, the HMM Algeciras, is a great recognition of this. It is an incentive that continues to encourage us to carry on building tomorrow's port today. This is the only way that world players will continue to choose our city as their gateway to Europe.”