News Release

10th June 2003

World’s largest container ship at ECT Delta Terminal


10-Jun-2003

Rotterdam, 10 June 2003 – With the maiden call of the OOCL Shenzhen in Rotterdam, the ECT Delta Terminal today received the largest container vessel currently sailing the world. The new ship of Hong Kong-based shipping company OOCL has a maximum capacity of 8,063 TEU (standard measurement for containers.) The OOCL Shenzhen is 323 meters long, more than 42 meters wide and fully laden has a draught of 14.5 meters. OOCL will this year put two of these ships into service, an additional four in 2004 and another two in 2005.

Calling at several HPH ports, the vessel is on the China Europe Express loop with a rotation of Shanghai, Xiamen, Yantian, Hong Kong, Singapore, Suez, Southampton, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Gioia Tauro, Port Said, Port Kelang, Singapore, Hong Kong and back to Shanghai, a round trip of 56 days.

“The ECT Delta Terminal is perfectly equipped for handling these enormous vessels,” says ECT’s director of Operations Jan Gelderland. “The maximum reach of our quay cranes is 22 containers wide. On the OOCL Shenzhen, the containers stand 17 rows wide. Therefore, we can’t wait to receive even larger ships in the near future.”