The Port of Felixstowe has welcomed the inaugural call of the world’s largest containership, the Cosco Ningbo.
The ship, which arrived on the 19 April 2006, was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries and has the highest declared capacity of any ship in operation (9449 TEU). It has a gross tonnage of 109,149, a length of 351m and a breadth of 42.8m. Part of Cosco’s new fleet of ships, the Ningbo is designed to cope with the ever-growing trade from China, and will operate on the Asia Europe 1 (AE1) service.
With the introduction of bigger capacity ships, the AE1 service now becomes the sixth highest capacity provider in the Asia/Europe trade.
Chris Lewis, chief executive officer of Hutchison Ports (UK), owner of the Port of Felixstowe, said: “Vessels such as the Cosco Ningbo will become a regular sight in the near future as the shipping industry continues to seek more efficient ways of transporting goods. We have to make sure that we can accommodate vessels such as the Cosco Ningbo here in Felixstowe, or else we will lose out to foreign ports”
