A new record was set today (9 June) at the port of Antwerp, when the Madrid Maersk moored there for the first time.
With a length of 399 metres and a capacity of 20,568 TEU, the vessel is the largest container ship ever to call at the port.
The Madrid Maersk will remain in Antwerp until Sunday. During its stay 300 dockers will work non-stop to load and unload 7,000 containers. After the call in Antwerp the ship, which forms part of the Maersk Line’s AE2 service, will set sail for Rotterdam.
The Madrid Maersk belongs to the second generation of Triple-E ships operated by the Danish shipping company Maersk Line, taking up to 2,000 more containers than its first-generation predecessors.
The Madrid Maersk left the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering yard in South Korea in spring this year, after which it began its maiden trip.
The vessel first called at the port of Tianjin in China on 27 April. The ship commanded by the Danish captain Niels P.H. Larsen and with a 24-man crew then called at other ports in the Far East, and finally sailed up the Scheldt to Antwerp this morning (9 June), mooring in the Deurganck dock.
