The largest container ship in the world MSC Gülsün already in Gdansk
MSC Gülsün – Container, considered the largest container in the world in terms of TEU capacity (20-foot container equivalent), has already entered the North Port of Gdansk and stood at the T2 wharf of the DCT Gdansk terminal.
The ship, with a width of 24 rows of containers on board, appeared in Gdansk as part of the 2M Silk/AE-10 service with weekly calls.
During the stopover in Gdansk, 11,000 containers (18,000 TEU) will be transshipped onto/from MSC Gulsun. This is the largest regular container exchange in Europe, according to DCT Gdansk in an official announcement.
The unit, whose visit to Gdańsk was announced by PortalMorski.pl as the first one in the Polish media at the beginning of July, came to us from the German port of Bremerhaven.
Interestingly, already at the entrance to Bremerhaven, the containers intended for unloading in DCT Gdansk reached the extreme possible position – on the edge of the deck (hatch covers). Those operated in Bremerhaven, from every second row (so-called bay) of 40 foot containers – were not placed on the edge of the deck, but reached only (at the ship’s width) to one row closer to the plane of symmetry of the container ship, and only containers from these rows were fully unloaded in the German port.
These ranks, which were set up to the last, extreme row (to the edge of the deck) remained on the ship for servicing in Gdansk.
This is related to the fact that the terminal in Bremerhaven does not yet have cranes with such a large reach, which are able to handle the extreme (farthest from the quay) row of containers on the latest generation, record-breaking size of the ship, which can carry 24 containers across the width of the deck.
Today, for some time, there were three large container ships (ULCVs) in the Gulf of Gdansk at the same time. These were COSCO Shipping Galaxy (after leaving DCT Gdansk heading for Wilhelmshaven) passing at the edge of the Gulf of Gdansk with MSC Gulsun (heading for DCT Gdansk) and Mumbai Maersk (anchoring at Baltiysk to receive fuel) – each with a capacity exceeding 20,000 TEU. This may be a signal that the Baltic Sea is not just a ‘large lake’ alongside major world trade routes, but is, together with the port of Gdansk, their beginning and end.
From 2013 onwards, the world’s largest container vessels will regularly call at DCT Gdansk, whose state-of-the-art STS cranes with over 25 container lines, deep-water quays and turntables up to 670m mean that DCT is more than ready to handle a new class of megamax-24 container vessels with a capacity of 23,756 TEU – we read in the terminal information that also states that DCT Gdansk is the only terminal in the Baltic Sea capable of handling ships of this size.
“At DCT Gdansk we are constantly investing in the future, so when the future comes – as with the new class of ships – we are ready for it. We would like to thank our customers for using DCT Gdansk as a gateway to Eastern Europe and MSC for entrusting us with their new flagship class of ships, which we strive to serve with the highest level of service and reliability. – says DCT Gdansk CEO Cameron Thorpe.
DCT Gdansk enables Poland to connect with the largest maritime transport trade route between Europe and Asia. It also ensures efficient trade of our region’s products with China, while reducing costs, more competitive delivery times and lower carbon emissions per container than other ports.
DCT Gdansk serves not only Poland but also the Baltic Sea markets. It is also the most cost-effective way to reach the inland foreign markets of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Belarus and Western Ukraine – the terminal’s announcement states.
In 2018, DCT Gdansk transshipped almost 1.9 million TEU, regularly handling the calls of the largest container vessels in the world. In 2019, DCT Gdansk’s transshipments will exceed 2.0 million TEU.
In addition to continuous development and investment in terminal infrastructure and modern transhipment equipment, DCT Gdansk is also actively involved in environmental and community care activities, seeing them as the foundation for sustainable social and economic development.
DCT is a member of the PSA Group, which shares shares with the Polish Development Fund (PFR) and Australian investment fund IFM, which was established on behalf of the State Treasury.
PBS, rel (DCT Gdansk)
translation: Krystian Wyrzykowski
