The Port of Felixstowe has welcomed the world’s largest container ship to its port.
The 24,000 TEU Ever Ace, operated by Taiwanese line Evergreen Marine arrived at the UK’s largest container port on 13 September from Hamburg, having commenced its voyage at Qingdao, China in July.
The A-type vessel is 400m in length and 61.5m wide, has a design draft of 14.5m and can cruise at speeds up to 22.6 knots.
With a nominal carrying capacity of 23,992 TEU, Ever Ace is one of the largest container ships in the world.
Chris Lewis, CEO at the Port of Felixstowe, commented, “We are delighted to welcome the Ever Ace on its maiden call at the Port of Felixstowe.
“Our relationship with Evergreen dates back to 1979 when Evergreen launched its first Asia-Europe service. The scale of growth since then has been nothing short of staggering; those first ships had a capacity of just 1,200TEU, one-twentieth of the number the Ever Ace can carry.
“It is particularly fitting that the arrival coincides with the start of London International Shipping Week which promotes the best of the UK maritime sector.”
Work at the port is due to commence in the Fall to increase the depth of the main approach channel into the port.
Undertaken by Harwich Haven Authority and due for completion in 2023, the £120 million ($166 million) scheme will increase the depth of the channel from 14.5m to 16.0m below chart datum.
The channel deepening will give Felixstowe access for the largest container ships and complements work completed in July 2021 to deepen Berth 7 at the port to 16.5m.
Further work to deepen Berths 6, 8 & 9 is scheduled for 2022.