Record of largest container ship ever falls after five days

The OOCL Spain sails under the flag of Hong Kong. The ship has a loading capacity of 24,188 standard 20-foot containers. The MSC Tessa had ‘only’ 24,116. In order to ensure that all this proceeds safely, the large companies in the port have been arguing for some time to deepen the Scheldt even more. Experts from the University of Antwerp partly agree, although they also warn of the dangers such as getting stuck.

“Performing infrastructure and extra container capacity remain a priority in order to continue to play at the top level of world ports,” the port authority said last week. “For example, the modernization and deepening of the Europa Terminal, which has now started, will ensure that the latest generation of megaships can continue to call at the Europa Terminal.”

Meanwhile, new European rules must ensure that emissions from shipping are reduced by 80 percent by 2050. The shipping industry is responsible for about 3 percent of global CO2 emissions.