Ho Chi Minh City: Vietnam has joined the premier league of container shipping with the first call of a 9,000 teu boxship in Ho Chi Minh City by Maersk Line. Jesper Praestensgaard, ceo of Maersk in Asia - Pacific said Vietnam had entered the "premier league" of the industry with the maiden direct call by the 9,038 teu Mathilde Maersk at SP - PSA terminal on Tuesday. The Mathilde Maersk was the largest ever ship to call a Vietnamese port, surpassing even aircraft carriers in size, as it inaugurated a direct call by Maersk on the lines TP6 transpacific service to the US West Coast. The majority of mainline vessels calling Vietnam are around 4,500 teu in capacity. The first mainline service from Vietnam to the US was launched at the end of last May by APL from the newly opened SP-PSA. Prior to this service the largest containerships that could call Vietnam were around 1,700 teu in capacity. [12/05/10]
Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited.
