Port of Hamburg welcomes the first 20,000-TEU container ship

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines’ MOL Triumph broke the neuralgic barrier of 20,000 TEU barrier, which still seemed inconceivable some years ago. On its maiden voyage the giant container vessel operated by the Japanese shipping company will call the Port of Hamburg on the evening of May 15, at around 22:00, for the first time, and berth at the HHLA Container Terminal Burchardkai (CTB).

The “MOL Triumph” was christened on March 15 at the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea and delivered on March 27, to the new owner MOL. This is the first of six identical vessels of the 20,000 TEU-class, 400 meters long, and about 59 wide, that MOL has commissioned.

“MOL Triumph” will operate on the FE2 service of the new shipping company alliance “THE Alliance” linking China and South East Asia to Northern Europe. “THE Alliance” directly calls the Port of Hamburg with five Far East liner services. Three of them are handled at HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder, and two at CTB.

For ports and terminals such mega-ships are a challenge not only because of their size. The huge cargo volumes that have to be handled in a very short time and forwarded, require quite a performance from the terminal operators. A 20,000-TEU ship can move 11.000 to 14.500 TEU per port call. These volumes require huge efforts in terminal logistics and container flows.

The HHLA Container Terminal Burchardkai has two high-performance berths allowing to handle the new 20,000 TEU container ships. Hamburg’s terminal operator is using its largest gantry cranes here. Their cantilevers extend over the entire width of the mega-ships with up to 24 rows of containers. The CTB offers 13 of these gantry cranes.

“MOL Triumph” is expected to leave the port of Hamburg on 18 May at about 17:00, and return to the Far East after further stops in Rotterdam and Le Havre.

www.hafen-hamburg.de; www.mol.co.jp/en