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frederik:
Mark Malone, Managing Director of Maersk's shipping division, state on a recent conference that Maersk will not put her youngest generation of ULCS's (Ultra Large Container Ships (Emma Maersk)) on the UK because the British ports are insuffici

DanSTN:
This is an interesting topic.

Felixstowe is currently the only UK port equipped to handle ships the size of Emma Maersk (in terms of crane outreach).

However, it is clear that Maersk believe that it would be a poor decision to position ships of this size on routes serving the UK just yet. This is mainly due to poor landside productivity.

The forthcoming Shell Haven Port will perhaps alleviate their concerns but it is quite concerning that the UK is still far behind Dutch, Belgium and German Ports in terms of 'hub' status.

Andrew McAlpine:
The (UK) terminals really need to push investment in cranes etc in order to handle this generation of ship and ensure that our ports remain direct ports of call for main line vessels.

Southampton Container Terminals dramatically increased their landside turn around times with a vehicle booking system that other ports are also very interested in.
They have ordered two super post panamax container cranes with an outreach of 22 boxes these are due for delivery in the next 18 months.
From October this year SCT will be the only (UK) port with a dedicated feeder berth allowing feeder vessels to call without being delayed by mainline vessels using the berth.

Unfortunately maersk lines decision is just another example of how the (UK) as a whole is far behind other countries.

frederik:
Hi,

At this time the decision isn't already made but it doesn't look good for the port of Felixstowe. If Maersk scrap the call in Felixstowe that will mean they loose the benefit of being the first port of call in Europe on the west-bound trade, the first port of disharge in Europe.
For the moment Felixstowe is still on the list for the first voyage of Emma Maersk but for how long? Or will Maersk change Felixstowe for Zeebrugge? Time will tell...

greetz,

frederik

Kelvin Davies:
Part of Southampton's problem is the same as caused Maersk to have some serious doubts about using the port (until they resumed in March this year); the ships have to negotiate a 120 degree turn in a 12.6m deep channel which is just over 340m wide at its entrance.
When you have more than 300m of ship in front of you, there is no room for even the smallest error.
(Hats off to the Southampton Pilots!)

How do they measure productivity anyway? Is it based on how fast a ship can be loaded, unloaded and sent out again?
Kelvin

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