TWO of the world’s biggest container ships have met for the first time at the Port of Felixstowe.
The Eleonora Maersk, which has capacity equivalent to 15,550 standard-sized containers, and the MSC Paloma, slightly small with a capacity of 14,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) are both regular callers at the port.
Their schedules mean that they usually arrive at different times but their latest calls happened to coincide, with the two giant vessels being berthed alongside each other at the Trinity Terminal.The port’s deepwater facilities allow even the largest containerships to berth and depart at any state of the tide.
The 397-metre-long Eleonora Maersk, which is 56 metres wide, travelled on to Bremerhaven after part of its cargo was unloaded, while the 366-metre-long MSC Paloma, which has a width of 51 metres, sailed for Antwerp.
A port spokesman said: “This was the first time the two largest classes of container ships in the world have berthed at the port simultaneously.”
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