Containerships continue to grow in size, as evidenced by MOL’s recent order for 22,000 TEU megaships, carriers, shippers, ports, and governments are beginning to ramp-up orders to deal with the financial, logistical and legal ramifications of such ships. Much as carriers and shippers need to work as partners in moving cargo so each side earns a profit and reliability of vessel schedules remains a joint priority, ports and port operators also need to be brought into the same equation. The larger vessels employed today bring an incredibly complex choreography with them into each port; just last week in the Port of Los Angeles, the Maersk Evora loaded and unloaded a record total of 24,846 TEUs between October 17-22, 2017 which Maersk is claiming is a new world record for a single port call. It’s more than just loading and unloading boxes: One needs to visualize the planning needed to coordinate the rail, trucking, chassis availabiliti es and customs documentation.
