By Dale Crisp
MSC Ningbo, a 7,849 TEU containership employed on MSC's weekly Australia Europe Express service, last week set a new container exchange record for any local terminal when working at Patrick's Port Botany facility.
The ship and terminal handled 4,000 separate lifts, equating to 5,767 TEU, between 1400 hrs on Saturday 12 August and 2055 on Monday evening, 14 August. Patrick says this meant an average of 75.5 moves per hour over the 53-hour period.
MSC has been progressively introducing larger vessels to AES, with MSC Ningbo and sisters E R Montecito and E R Vancouver currently the largest containerships in regular Australian trade.
MSC says AES received top marks in the most recent SeaIntel Global Liner Performance Report, and was identified as best in market for schedule reliability.