NSW Ports is proud to welcome to Port Botany two of the largest capacity container vessels ever to arrive in Australia, making history not once but twice in one week! Capable of carrying around 9400 Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs ) each, both ships are 299.9 metres long, 48.2 metres wide, with air draft of approximately 50m, making them the size of three consecutive football fields and as high as a 15 storey building.
- The Maersk Skarstind arrived at Port Botany’s largest container terminal by capacity, Patrick Terminals - Sydney AutoStrad at 9pm on Thursday 4 July. Originating from East Asia, the majestic ship is operated by A.P Moller Maersk on the ‘Boomerang’ service, and will call at all major Australian ports before departing Australian shores on 17 July 2019 and making its way to South East Asia. The Maersk Skarstind has a total container capacity of 9472 TEU and is also the first ‘twin island’ container vessel to arrive in Australia. The special design increases navigation visibility and cargo loading capacity for 9000+ TEU ships by separating the wheelhouse and accommodation block from the engine room and funnel area.
- The MSC Elma arrived at Port Botany’s Patrick Terminals - Sydney AutoStrad at 7pm on Saturday 6 July. Operated by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) on the Australian Express Service from Europe, the MSC Elma has a total container capacity of 9411 TEU and will depart Port Botany on Tuesday 9 July, stopping at most major Australian ports before making its way on to Singapore, Colombo and back to Europe.
As Australia’s premium container port, Port Botany currently handles more than 2.6 million TEU annually and is well equipped today to handle these very large vessels.
Says Marika Calfas, CEO NSW Ports, “While most ships calling into Australia are around 4500 TEU, container vessel sizes are increasing due to the steady increase in the international container freight task and the consolidation of freight by shipping lines to achieve economies of scale.
“With a natural deep water shipping channel, 12 container vessel berths and a short transit to and from berth facilities, we are pleased to welcome these large vessels and expect to see more visit Port Botany in the future,” Ms Calfas concluded.
Port Botany is the only container port in Australia with:
- On-dock’ rail facilities at all three stevedore terminals: meaning containers can be transported directly to/from the wharf by train, without the need for double-handing by trucks.
- A regulated truck booking / penalty system which has removed truck queuing from container terminals and delivered savings to importers and exporters.
- Performance based stevedore leases that have financial incentives for stevedores to improve performance in ship, road and rail servicing.
- Environmental incentives for ships – launched in January this year to encourage, through financial incentives, vessels with higher standards of environmental emissions performance in our ports.
- A network of metropolitan intermodal terminals directly connected by dedicated freight rail to each of its three container terminals.
- Patrick Terminals - Sydney AutoStrad™ operates 45 fully automated AutoStrad™, houses the largest cranes whilst also being the deepest draft in the port across four berths and 1400 metres of quay line.
-ENDS-
Download this media release: NSW Ports media release 7 July 2019
For more media information please contact NSW Ports on 0410 597 547 or vida.cheeseman@nswports.com.au
About NSW Ports
NSW Ports manages Port Botany and Port Kembla, key export and import gateways connecting to global and domestic markets, and the Enfield Intermodal Logistics Centre and the Cooks River Intermodal Terminal. NSW Ports is a private consortium of leading institutional investors: IFM Investors (including Cbus, HESTA and Hostplus), AustralianSuper, Tawreed Investments Limited and Q Super. Our shareholders represent over six million Australian superannuation fund members and are long term investors with interests in a range of Australian infrastructure assets.