Gulftainer Company Limited

World’s  largest containership makes its maiden call at Khorfakkan Container Terminal.

Sharjah, UAE – June 26, 2013:  Gulftainer, the world’s largest privately owned independent port management and logistics  company, welcomed CMA CGM’s Alexander Von Humboldt containership on its maiden voyage  and call at the Khorfakkan Container Terminal (KCT).

The Alexander Von  Humboldt, named after the German naturalist, geographer and explorer, is one of  the three explorer class container vessels belonging to CMA CGM, and the second  in a series after CMA CGM Marco Polo. Today, it is also one of the world's  largest containership at 16,020 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU),  matching its sister ship, Marco Polo, which is a regular visitor to Khorfakkan.  The vessel is 396 meters long (length of four standard football pitches), 54  meters wide, with a draft of 16 meters and has the ability to carry some 16,000  shipping containers.

“In keeping with  the global trade demands, the maritime industry has been expanding at an  exponential rate with increasingly larger containerships,” said Peter Richards Gulftainer Company Limited,  Group Managing Director of Gulftainer.

At Gulftainer, we ensure  that we stay ahead of the demand and are well equipped to handle these giants  at our terminals. In fact, the Khorfakkan Container Terminal is one of the few  terminals in the Middle East with the facilities to handle mega-containerships  beyond the 16,000 TEU handling capacity.”    KCT reported a 26 per cent increase  in volume in 2012.

Following its UAE stopover,  Alexander Von Humboldt will proceed to Port Klang in Malaysia in early July, and  finally ending its maiden voyage at Ningbo, China by 10 July.

The vessel’s  arrival at KCT was marked with a presentation from Gulftainer’s UAE Terminals  Manager, Paul Hennessy to Master of the Vessel, Captain Slavko Malasic and Tony  De Costa, Regional Operations and Project Cargo of CMA CGM Khorfakkan.

Khorfakkan  Container Terminal is widely considered to be  amongst the most efficient terminals in the world, making it an ideal transshipment hub with connections to Gulf Ports,  Europe, Indian subcontinent and East Africa. Khorfakkan’s location makes it an  obvious choice for shipping lines with large transshipment volumes, which  require easy access to the UAE hinterland.