Port of Philadelphia has passed another challenge by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) after handling the carrier's largest class of container vessel on the US East Coast.
MSC Shuba B, a 12,200 TEU MSC ship (pictured), arrived at Philaport's Packer Avenue Marine Terminal yesterday (February 13, 2017) from the West Coast of South America with a cargo of mostly fruit.
MSC’s 11,000-TEU MSC Avni was the last largest ship to sail up the Delaware River on January 14, 2017.
The MSC Shuba B's cargo was from Chile and Peru, which included table grapes, peaches, plums, pears and blueberries.
PhilaPort has a long history of trade with the agriculturally rich countries of Chile and Peru.
In 2017, the value of the cargo originating from Chile had a value of over $1.1 billion dollars and $475 million from Peru, a 15% increase from the previous year.
In Photo: PhilaPort presents master of M/V Shuba B with replica Liberty Bell. From left to right: Joseph Fox, PhilaPort; Christina Lista, Chilean American Chamber of Commerce; Byron Montalvo, Holt Logistics Corp; Shuba B Chief Mate, Chief Engineer, and Captain Binay K. Singh; J. Ward Guilday, Pilots’ Association for the Bay & River Delaware; Sean Mahoney, PhilaPort; Dan Lazovich, MSC and Shuba B Second Mate.
PhilaPort is currently implementing a $300 million infrastructure improvement plan, which includes wharf strengthening, new cranes, paving and many other terminal improvements.
In 2017, the Port realized 19% growth in its containerized cargo volumes handling 548,000 containers.
Jeff Theobald, PhilaPort Executive Director and CEO, said: “Being able to handle a 12,200 TEU container capacity vessel is a game changer.
“This size of vessel is increasingly being used as the workhorse for shipping lines around the world. It’s the reason why we are working so hard to make the necessary capital improvements which we have planned as quickly as possible.”
Read more: Port of Philadelphia released a video of the moment it received its last largest containership on January 14, 2018
