Gulftainer has welcomed its largest-ever-vessel at Khorfakkan Container Terminal (KCT) – the ‘CMA CGM Kerguelen’ – which made its maiden call at the terminal on the CMA flagship service ‘FAL1.’
PTI previously that Gulftainer’s growth in Brazil in Q1, 2015 had soared by a massive 97% as a result of strong market demand.
The ‘CMA CGM Kerguelen’ is the newest and largest vessel in the CMA CGM’s fleet with an overall length of 398 metres, a width of 54 metres and a total capacity of 17,722 TEU.
Daniel Wright, Gulftainer’s Terminal Manager at KCT, said: “Receiving the ‘CMA CGM Kerguelen’ represents another milestone for Gulftainer and Khorfakkan Container Terminal, as it is the largest vessel we have worked at the facility.
“This new milestone adds to the benchmarks already achieved this year at the terminal where we recently set a new record for the highest number of containers discharged and loaded on a single vessel call when the ‘CMA CGM Jules Verne’ worked a total of 19,561 TEU in a record time. ”
The ‘CMA CGM Kerguelen’ is longer than four football pitches, or five-and-a-half A380 Airbus aircraft and its length also surpasses the Empire State Building’s height, which stands at 381 metres.
On her maiden call to KCT, the vessel discharged and loaded over 7,700 containers and departed the terminal ahead of schedule.
KCT has been one of the most important transhipment hubs for the Arabian Gulf, the Indian sub-continent, the Gulf of Oman and the East African markets. KCT also recently received the ‘Shipping Port of the Year’ honour at the 2015 Supply Chain and Transport Awards (SCATA).
Gulftainer’s current portfolio covers UAE operations in Khorfakkan Port and Port Khalid in Sharjah as well as activities at Umm Qasr in Iraq, Recife in Brazil, Jeddah and Jubail in Saudi Arabia and Tripoli Port in Lebanon, which will commence operations in September 2015.
KCT recently took the delivery of multi-million dollars worth of port equipment in a bid to improve on its daily operations.
(Source: KCT)
