ABP Southampton is preparing to welcome the largest container ship yet on Tuesday, November 7.

In 2016 the largest container vessel calling in Southampton had a capacity for 16,000 containers.

And this year the Port has so far welcomed MOL Triumph and MOL Trust with a capacity for 20,170 containers.

Port of Southampton prepares to welcome the largest container ship ever
Caption: Containership Milan Maersk - Image courtesy of Robin Pridmore

Milan Maersk is one of the largest vessels of her type in the world with a capacity for 20,568 containers – that’s nearly 400 containers more than MOL Triumph.

The mega-ship belongs to the second generation of Maersk Line’s Triple-E class (Economy of scale, Energy efficient and Environmentally improved) and is part of a series of eleven container ships, which will be delivered by the end of 2018.

Milan Maersk’s propulsion and software system creates energy savings which aims to reduce carbon emissions per container vessel by 35 percent.

This new generation of more efficient and environmentally friendly container ships joins LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) and solar powered RoRo vessels already visiting the Port of Southampton.

ABP Southampton Director, Alastair Welch said: “Milan Maersk is just the latest of these new megaships to visit the Port of Southampton. Not only are these vessels bigger - they are much cleaner too and we are seeing more of these new generation ships visiting across the port’s key trades. The Port of Southampton is ideally suited to welcome these megaships.”

About Milan Maersk:

  • Length overall: 399 metres
  • Beam (breadth): 58.6 metres
  • Height (above baseline): 75.7 metres
  • Height (above waterline): 59.7 metres
  • Draught: 16 metres
  • Main engine: MAN B&W
  • Nominal capacity: 20 568 TEU (twenty-foot-equivalent-unit)

Source: Port of Southampton