TEU record going to APL

The record for largest container ship to call in Halifax is about to be broken again with the arrival of APL Salalah early Sunday morning. The previous record holders were three ZIM ships, the first of which was ZIM Antwerp June 29, 2017, followed by ZIM Rotterdam (which was originally intended to be the first, and shown above in the masthead photo) and  ZIM Djibouti all just edging by the 10,000 TEU mark by 62 TEU. The ships measure 114,044 grt, 116,499 dwt. They are now regular callers here, with ZIM Rotterdam sailing today.

ZIM Antwerp the last record setter for the Halifax.

APL Slalah, operated by APL, which is owned by CMA CGM, was built in 2012 by Daewoo Shipbuilding + Marine Engineering Co Ltd in Okpo, South Korea. With a tonnage of 128,929 grt, 131,477 dwt, it has a capacity of 10,960 TEU. Not only does it set a capacity record, it is also the first boxship of more than 120,000 grt to call here. (Since its arrival will be in the middle of the night, there may be little chance for a photo)

It will be interesting to see how long its record stands, as larger ships have been docking at nearby US east coast ports for several months, and are now in the 13,000 TEU range.

To keep things in perspective however, this week the Port of Hamburg, Germany greeted its largest ship ever. CMA CGM Antoine de Saint Expury carries 20,776 TEU and beats the previous record set by  Munich Maersk of 20,568 TEU in August 2017. It took nine cranes to work the record breaker, offloading 7,000 boxes and loading 4,000 during its stay in the port. Hamburg is about to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its entry into the container business, only a year ahead of Halifax.

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