Giant docks in Antwerp

The Edith Maersk, one if the biggest container ships in the world, docked in the Antwerp harbour on Friday night. At almost 400 metres long and 56 metres wide, this giant can carry 15,000 containers. The megaship was scheduled to arrive in the harbour last year, but due to bad weather conditions it sailed for Rotterdam instead. Call this a coincidence or not, but yesterday the exact opposite happened when congestion in the Rotterdam harbour forced it to opt for Antwerp. The boat’s presence in the port is a windfall for this city on the River Scheldt, which is set on competing with Zeebrugge for the position of destination for large container ships. The Edith Maersk entered Zeebrugge for the first time in 2007. Now it was Antwerp’s turn to enjoy the spectacle. Port authorities carefully followed the ship’s arrival via maritime radio channels and the internet. The Edith Maersk arrived in Belgium on its way from Port Saïd in Egypt to unload 2,200 containers. Due to its extreme length, the freight company Maersk Line required special permission to dock. The ship’s trial run in the harbour nevertheless ran smoothly as this super modern giant boasts the most advanced equipment, making it super manoeuvrable. With its seven sister vessels, the Edith Maersk is one of the biggest ships in the world, driven by a  80,000 kW engine. Meanwhile Maersk are in the process of building even bigger container ships which, at 400 metres, have a capacity for 18,000 containers. This is 16% more than the Edith Maersk can carry.