Peter T. Leach, Senior Editor | Jun 04, 2012 5:04PM EDT
The Port of Mobile got its first call by a post-Panamax container ship on Sunday when the MSC Laura docked at APM Terminals Mobile.
The vessel call is the first in Mediterranean Shipping Co.’s new weekly direct service from the North European ports of Antwerp, Felixstowe, Bremerhaven and Le Havre to Mobile.
“The MSC Laura call clearly removes any doubt of our capabilities in handling the larger container ships,” said Jimmy Lyons, director and CEO of the Alabama State Port Authority. The MSC Laura has a capacity of 6,250 20-foot equivalent units. “They have some even bigger than that in their string,” Lyons said.
The new MSC service was drawn to the Port of Mobile by 3-year-old APM Terminals Mobile. The port’s container throughput increased 30 percent in 2011 year-over-year. “That kind of growth is indicative of the kind of growth we’re going to see,” Lyons said.
Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @petertleach.
