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SPA prepares for arrival of mega-ships in Charleston
By Dan McCue
Staff Writer
The Port of Charleston has been marketing itself as “Big Ship Ready” for years.
In March, the port community will be putting muscle to that slogan as the Grand Alliance, a global consortium of shipping firms, replaces its current North Atlantic fleet with ships that have a third more cargo capacity.
“This announcement (moving from 2,800-TEU ships to 4,000-TEU ships) is indeed a capacity upgrade that should bring additional business to Charleston,” said Byron Miller, spokesman for the S.C. State Ports Authority.
“The Europe trade is Charleston’s largest market, representing about one-third of our business,” he added.
Grand Alliance members Hapag-Lloyd, Nippon Yusen Kaisha and the Orient Overseas Container Line announced this week that they were replacing four vessels with a capacity of 2,800 20-foot equivalent units on their joint Atlantic Express line with vessels that have a capacity of 4,000 TEUs.
The new ships are being brought online in cooperation with ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. ZIM will provide one of the larger vessels and the alliance members will provide the other three.
The larger ships will increase efficiency and would reduce the ratio of fuel consumed per container mile, an outcome the lines described as an “environmental benefit of using larger ships.”
Charleston is one of three U.S. ports, including Norfolk, Va., and New York, that are serviced by the Atlantic Express line.
The European ports of call on the line are in Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Hamburg, Germany; Le Havre, France; and Southampton, England.
The line is currently making weekly calls on the SPA’s North Charleston terminal.
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