At 400 m (nearly a quarter of a mile) in length and 59 m wide, it is the largest vessel currently afloat of any kind, reaching 73 m in height (as tall as a 24-story building).
Interestingly APM Terminals Rotterdam set a new terminal productivity record on the vessel with berth and crane productivity of 215 and 37.1 gross moves/hour respectively.
APM Terminals’ Rotterdam’s operations include the current terminal, which is equipped with 13 post-Panamax STS cranes with a 22-container wide reach, as well as the new automated Maasvlakte II terminal which is scheduled to open in November 2014.
APM Terminals Rotterdam is one of the largest container terminals in Europe, handling 2.5m teu in 2012. The Maasvlakte II facility will open with eight remote-controlled super post-Panamax STS cranes, the world’s first, and an annual throughput capacity of 2.7m teu with the capability of expanding to 4.5m teu at full build-out.
The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, entered service on July 15, 2013 at the Port of Busan, with calls at Shanghai and Yantian, China, and the Port of Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia. The Rotterdam call will be followed by stops at APM Terminals’ facilities in Bremerhaven, Aarhus, Gothenburg and Tangiers, Morocco.
“If the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller was fully loaded with 18,000 teu packed with sneakers, it would be enough for the entire populations of the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Denmark, Norway and Finland combined, with enough left over for everyone in Berlin as well – about 111m pairs,” said APM Terminals Europe portfolio manager Ben Vree.
