Southampton welcomes new generation of 13,000TEU-plus boxships

The terminal was the calling point for Hapag-Lloyd’s Hamburg Express and UASC’s Jebel Ali. The vessels berthed together at the Southampton Port which is preparing to increase its handling capability of next generation container ships, which the port considers “the future mega market for the shipping industry”.

Doug Morrison, port director, Southampton, Associated British Ports (ABP), said: “These giant container vessels, with all the economies of scale they bring, are predicted to account for more than half of the capacity of the world’s total container fleet by 2015. By way of personal experience, in my seven years here container ships have nearly doubled in teu capacity.”

Both vessels are capable of carrying more than 13,000TEU. For the Hamburg Express, it was the vessel’s first visit to the terminal which has seen a 20% rise in productivity and creates 10,000 jobs in the region.

Mr Morrison added: “Shipping lines are drawn to Southampton because our location means a minimum deviation from the main shipping lanes thereby offering their customers faster transit times. This means that we are often the first and last port of call in and out of Northern Europe.”