Tuesday, October 2, 2012

POLB Welcomes Largest-Ever Container Vessel


The MSC Beatrice has become the largest-ever container vessel to dock at the Port of Long Beach. On the morning of Sept. 30, the ship – which is 1,200 feet long, 167 feet wide and capable of carrying 13,798 TEUs – docked at Long Beach’s Pier T on Terminal Island.

Until this year, the largest container ships serving North America had capacities of about 10,000 TEUs. Ships carrying up to 12,500 TEUs began calling at the Port of Long Beach earlier in 2012.

“The new ships are bigger and greener and we’re pleased to be able to accommodate these vessels at the Port of Long Beach,” port Executive Director Chris Lytle said. “We’re among the few ports that are ‘big ship ready,’ and that means that we can continue to bring cargo to Long Beach in the most sustainable way possible.”

The MSC Beatrice, which was built in South Korea in 2009 and is operated by Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping Co., is the latest of the new generation of big container ships to be put into service on US-Asia trade routes.

It arrived in Long Beach from Yantian, China and is currently scheduled to depart Southern California for the Port of Oakland the morning of Oct. 4.