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MSC Loreto on grand tour of Europe

[ May 26, 2023   //   ]

The world’s largest container ship is making its maiden calls in north-west Europe. The MSC Loreto arrived in the Port of Antwerp-Bruges’ Deurganckdock from Ningbo (China) on the evening of Thursday 25 May and is due to depart for Felixstowe on Sunday 28 May.

At 24,346teu the Loreto shares the title of world largest and newest container vessel with sister ship MSC Irina.

Even in a world that has become somewhat blasé at the sight of 20,000teu-plus behemoths, port of Antwerp-Bruges chief executive said that calls by recording breaking ships  “continue to capture the imagination”.

He added: “This demonstrates that our port can receive the largest container ships. This positions Antwerp well for further increases in scale. It is our ambition as a port to continue to grow in a sustainable way, with a firm finger on the pulse of the global economic situation.”

Vice-Mayor of the City of Antwerp and President of the board of directors of Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Annick De Ridder, added: ” With a record ship comes performing infrastructure. We therefore ensure that the largest ships can continue to be handled at the terminals. Record ships also need sufficient container capacity. Additional container capacity Antwerp remains an absolute priority to keep playing at the top level of world ports.”

Chief executive of MSC Belgium, Marc Beerlandt, said “The interest in the arrival of the new record ship the MSC Loreto confirms that the activities in the port of Antwerp still capture the imagination of the general public! This pleases MSC enormously and shows that the choice of Antwerp as a European hub is definitely the right one.”

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