Barcelona Europe South Terminal

Hutchison Port Holdings Limited (HPH) subsidiary Barcelona Europe South Terminal (BEST) achieved a new record on 16th May when it moved 7,760 TEU on the call of the MSC Beatrice. A total of eight ship-to-shore gantry cranes were deployed simultaneously for the operation, achieving a peak Vessel Operating Rate of 221.3 moves per hour. BEST has 1,500 metres of quay length, eleven ship-toshore cranes, as well as 36 automatic stacking cranes and 26 shuttle carriers, allowing it to serve the largest vessels currently in operation. BEST’s average gross crane rate (GCR) of 40 moves per hour is one of the highest productivity ratios in the world. This extremely high level of crane productivity makes it possible for BEST to achieve vessel performance rates over 220 moves per hour.

OPDR

Oldenburg-Portugiesische Dampfschiffs-Rhederei (OPDR), a subsidiary of CMA CGM, began its new CAVA service on 7th June to connect the Spanish east coast with northern European ports, including St. Petersburg. The new service links the major Spanish ports of Valencia and Cartagena to four of the main ports in northern Europe: Tilbury, Antwerp, Rotterdam, and St. Petersburg. The company employs six 1,800 TEU container vessels capable of carrying pallet-wide equipment on the service. On 26th May, OPDR announced a revised AGAX service connecting northern Europe with Morocco, the Iberian Peninsula and the Canary Islands. The service now includes the port of Rouen, providing a direct connection between northern France and Morocco. The upgraded rotation shortens transit times from Rouen to Casablanca to four days. Three 700 TEU ships are deployed on the new AGAX service.

Hapag-Lloyd

In April the second of the two 3,500 TEU capacity ships purchased from the Dutch shipping company NileDutch, the NileDutch Rotterdam, officially changed hands. The 39,106gt/2015 built, 222m long and 35m wide vessel has now been renamed the Antofagasta Express and sails under the Chilean flag. The ship, with a capacity of 3,500 TEU, was rechristened by Hapag-Lloyd and takes her new name from the Chilean port city of Antofagasta. Together with the second new acquisition, the San Antonio Express, and two recently chartered vessels of identical construction, the Antofagasta Express will be deployed in the Conosur service, which covers twelve ports, from Guayaquil on the western coast of South America to Rio de Janeiro on the eastern coast of the continent. These wide-beam ships have both a shallow draught and a high transport capacity. Their shape makes them excellently suited for South America’s often shallow ports. In addition, each of them is outfitted with 466 reefer plugs, which makes them ideally configured to transport temperature- sensitive foodstuffs.