The first 18,000 TEU ULC was only delivered in mid-2013 and there are now 35 on the water, and this number is set to swell to over 100 by 2019.
Container lines want 6,000 moves a day when handling an ultra-large containership (ULC), while stevedores see 3,500 moves a day as a maximum, according to a report on North European terminals by consultants Dynamar.
North European container terminals have seen a drastic upsizing in vessels calling at their facilities on the trades from Asia. In 2000 the largest containership was the 8,200 teu Cornelius Maersk, 15 years later and nearly 2.5 times as large 19,900 teu Barzan was delivered to UASC.
As the ships have grown so have the demands of the lines for their vessels to be handled quickly and efficiently so that they can truly benefit from the economies of scale, but Dynamar sees a discontent between the demands of lines and the capabilities of the terminal’s handling equipment.