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The Port of Melbourne and the Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) recently welcomed Soroe Maersk, the longest container vessel to call at the port
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Danish shipping giant Maersk deployed Soroe Maersk to Sydney and Melbourne to load empty containers for repositioning back to Asia where there is a shortage
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Soroe Maersk has a total carrying capacity of 9,640 TEUs and a record length of 347 meters, 11.3 meters longer than the previous longest vessels to call at the port
The Port of Melbourne and the Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) recently welcomed Soroe Maersk, the longest container vessel to call at the port.
Danish shipping giant Maersk deployed Soroe Maersk to Sydney and Melbourne to load empty containers that need to be repositioned back to Asia where there is an equipment shortage, according to International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI), parent of VICT.
Soroe Maersk has a total carrying capacity of 9,640 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) and a record length of 346.98 meters, 11.28 meters longer than the previous longest vessels to call at the port.
Soroe Maersk departed Melbourne on April 6 after loading 4,148 TEUs.
Port of Melbourne CEO Brendan Bourke welcomed the record-breaking arrival, noting that the port stands ready to accommodate the global trend of growing vessel sizes through its port development strategy and investment programs.
VICT CEO Tim Vancampen, for his part, highlighted the need to continue investing in order to keep up with the requirements of the larger vessels calling Australia.
“We welcome the Soroe Maersk and look forward to continuing to accommodate larger vessels of this size at VICT,” Vancampen said.
Last year, Vancampen said VICT was well equipped to accommodate the class of vessels ranging from 10,500 TEUs to 13,000 TEUs and planned to further invest in the Port of Melbourne to accommodate the next generation of vessels ranging from 15,000 TEUs to 18,000 TEUs in capacity.
Maersk Oceania managing director Henrik Jensen said: “We continuously focus on meeting client requirements whilst also driving efficiencies throughout our service network. To that end, the Soroe Maersk port call into Melbourne allows us to test potential future network and infrastructure aspects, and use the one-off vessel call to reposition much-needed empty containers to demand locations in Asia.”
Operational since 2017, VICT is Australia’s first fully automated container terminal capable of servicing the largest existing and next-class vessels on trade.
