Dubai Ports has announced the arrival of MSC Pamela, the world’s largest container ship at the Jebel Ali Port. 
The 337 meter long vessel has a capacity of 9,200 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) with a gross tonnage of 107,200. The high quality infrastructure facilities and equipment at Jebel Ali Port ensured the smooth and efficient handling of the mega container vessel.
MSC Pamela, which arrived from the Valencia Port in Spain will ply the Asia-Europe Express route, calling at major ports such as Le Havre, Rotterdam, Felixstowe, Antwerp, Singapore, Chiwan, Busan, Shanghai and Ningbo.
Commenting on the arrival of the vessel, Jamal Majid bin Thaniah, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Ports Authority, said: “We are proud to welcome MSC Pamela, on its maiden voyage in this route Our ability to easily accommodate some of the largest container ships in the world underlines the standard and quality of the state-of-the art infrastructure at our ports.”
“The rapid growth in trade and opening up of the world markets has created an increasing demand for vessels like MSC Pamela. We expect similar vessels to call at Jebel Ali Ports in the coming months,” he added.
On this occasion, Mr. Mohammed Al Muallem, Executive Director – Technical and Mr. Anwar Ahmed Wajdi, Executive Director - Commercial were both present at location to welcome the ship crew and they presented a Plaque on behalf of Dubai Ports to the ship Captain.
Owned by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), MSC Pamela is built by Samsung Heavy Industries. The vessel is capable of a maximum speed of 25 knots.
Dubai Ports, which includes Port Rashid and Jebel Ali Port is among the top 10 container ports of the world, in terms of container traffic. DPA achieved a 22 per cent increase in container traffic in the first half of 2005 compared to the same period last year, handling a total of 3,631,108 TEUs. Moreover, DPA recently announced the commencement of the AED 5 billion mega expansion project at Jebel Ali Port. The expansion will increase storage handling capacity at the port by 5 million TEUs and additional 2.5 kilometers of quay length. The total container terminal area at Jebel Ali Port will also be extended by approximately 173 hectares.
Earlier this year, MSC Rachele, a 335-meter long vessel with a capacity of 8238 TEUs called at Jebel Ali Port en route to Singapore.
© 2005 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
