MSC Loreto – currently the biggest container megaship, with a capacity for more than 24,300 TEUs – called at APM Terminals Algeciras this afternoon.
Our Port Authority Chairman - Mr. Gerardo Landaluce - accompanied MSC, APMT Algeciras and our own APBA representatives, and handed over a commemorative plaque to Captain Andrzej Spisak to celebrate her first call to the Straits. Captain Spisak explained that the ship is fitted out with cutting-edge technology to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.
The Port of Algeciras is one of only few ports in Europe and the Mediterranean to be able to accommodate this class of ship. Since they came into being ten years ago, our port has welcomed over 1,000 of these leviathans. Behind the scenes of these 1,000 calls to port, there was a public and private commitment over a decade ago to anticipate the future by fitting out our quays with draughts, fenders and cranes able to service megaships efficiently – this forward-looking investment has continued throughout the first half of 2023 with the recent introduction of new fenders on Juan Carlos I Quay. As Mr. Landaluce mentioned, the largest-capacity megaships continue to trust the Port of Algeciras thanks to the size and scale of our terminals, our rate of productivity and – let us not forget – our efficiency, which was recently remarked upon by the World Bank.
Since the first megaship started to sail the seas at the end of 2013 with the launch of the pioneering Maersk McKinney Möller, the Port of Algeciras broke through the 1,000 megaship call barrier last November. At present, the Port of Algeciras operates regular megaship calls to port for the five market-leading shipping lines: APL, CMA CGM, HMM, Maersk Line and MSC, as well as occasional calls made by MOL and Cosco.
This July, the shipping line ONE will soon be added to the above list: its first 24,000-TEU megaship – ONE Innovation is set to call at TTI Algeciras.