World’s largest containership makes its maiden call at Khorfakkan Container Terminal
Gulftainer, the world’s largest privately owned independent port management and logistics company, welcomed CMA CGM’s Alexander Von Humboldt containership on its maiden voyage and call at the Khorfakkan Container Terminal (KCT), said in the company's press release.
The Alexander Von Humboldt, named after the German naturalist, geographer and explorer, is one of the three explorer class container vessels belonging to CMA CGM, and the second in a series after CMA CGM Marco Polo. Today, it is also one of the world's largest containership at 16,020 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), matching its sister ship, Marco Polo, which is a regular visitor to Khorfakkan. The vessel is 396 meters long (length of four standard football pitches), 54 meters wide, with a draft of 16 meters and has the ability to carry some 16,000 shipping containers.
“In keeping with the global trade demands, the maritime industry has been expanding at an exponential rate with increasingly larger containerships,” said Peter Richards, Group Managing Director of Gulftainer.
At Gulftainer, we ensure that we stay ahead of the demand and are well equipped to handle these giants at our terminals. In fact, the Khorfakkan Container Terminal is one of the few terminals in the Middle East with the facilities to handle mega-containerships beyond the 16,000 TEU handling capacity.” KCT reported a 26 per cent increase in volume in 2012.
Following its UAE stopover, Alexander Von Humboldt will proceed to Port Klang in Malaysia in early July, and finally ending its maiden voyage at Ningbo, China by 10 July.
The vessel’s arrival at KCT was marked with a presentation from Gulftainer’s UAE Terminals Manager, Paul Hennessy to Master of the Vessel, Captain Slavko Malasic and Tony De Costa, Regional Operations and Project Cargo of CMA CGM Khorfakkan.
Khorfakkan Container Terminal is widely considered to be amongst the most efficient terminals in the world, making it an ideal transshipment hub with connections to Gulf Ports, Europe, Indian subcontinent and East Africa. Khorfakkan’s location makes it an obvious choice for shipping lines with large transshipment volumes, which require easy access to the UAE hinterland.
