Largest ever container vessel docks at Johor Port
New Straits Times
The world’s largest container vessel Axel Maersk recently made its maiden call at Port of Tanjung Pelepas in Gelang Patah, Johor.
The vessel, which is 352 metres long and 43 metres wide, has a maximum draft of 15 metres and is owned by shipping giant Maersk Sealand of Denmark. It berthed at the Sungai Pulai estuary in South-west Johor at 6pm last Thursday.
Axel Maersk is expected to call regularly at the port (PTP) as part of its service route to Hong Kong, Shanghai and other Chinese ports. It is scheduled to return to PTP in nine weeks.
Its captain Jyrn Holger Pederson said the ship has the capacity to carry 6,6600 twenty-foot equivalent (TEUs) containers.
The port later commemorated the historic occasion by handling over a memento to Pederson.
The 10,000-tonne deadweight vessel with a gross registered tonnage of 93,496 tonnes loaded and discharged close to 3,000 containers at the port.
Meanwhile, the port’s chief executive director Mohd Sidik Shaik Osman said the arrival of Axel Maersk proved the capability of the port to cater for large container vessels.
Maersk Sealand shifted its two million TEUs transshipment hub to PTP from Singapore in 2000 when it acquired a 30 per cent stake in the port.
PTP, since its launch on March 13, 2000, has grown from strength to strength in terms of volume and productivity.
The port’s location presents a significant geographical advantage through its deep waters, sheltered bay and wide access channels.
It offers six berths, each of 360 metres in length, backed by one of the largest container yards in the region, with a storage capacity of 110,000 TEUs.
Operational equipment includes 24 Super Post Panamax quay cranes, 10 of which have a 22 box outreach and are the largest in the region.