APM Terminals (APMT) Elizabeth has welcomed the CMA CGM Marco Polo to its terminal, making the vessel the largest container ship to call at the US East Coast.
The vessel beats the previous record held by the 15,072 TEU CMA CGM Brazil, which also called at APMT Elizabeth in September 2020.
The 16,022 TEU Marco Polo will next call at the Port of Virginia (23 May), Port of Savannah (26 May) and Port of Charleston (28 May).
The vessel is sailing on the company’s Columbus JAX service, travelling from South Asia to the East Coast of America.
With a length equivalent to more than three and a half American football fields, the containers fitting on the vessel would span nearly 61 miles if placed end-to-end.
Jon Poelma, Managing Director of APM Terminals Elizabeth, New Jersey, said, “Today’s port call was made possible by APM Terminals’ $200 million investment in port infrastructure that helped usher in the new era of larger ships calling the US East Coast.
“Our goal is to make APM Terminals Port Elizabeth safer, more productive and easier to use for customers so they can compete at the peak of global shipping and logistics efficiency.”
APM Terminals Elizabeth launched a multi-year construction investment in 2017 to strengthen the berth area for the taller and heavier Ship-to-Shore (STS) cranes necessary to handle the larger vessels now calling the Port of New York and New Jersey.
The 350-acre APM Terminals Port Elizabeth facility is equipped with eight super Post-Panamax cranes and six Post-Panamax cranes.
APM Terminals’ Port Elizabeth facility is one of the largest container terminals in the Port of New York & New Jersey port complex, handling 1,777,711 TEU in 2020.
