TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The world’s largest container ship, the HMM Gdansk, docked in Kaohsiung Thursday (July 9) on a journey from South Korea to Europe.
The ship, registered in Panama but operated by Hyundai Merchant Marine of South Korea, is 399.9 meters long, 61 meters wide, measures 228,283 tons and can transport 24,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).
Port officials in Kaohsiung were present at 7 a.m. to welcome the vessel, CNA reported. They handed over a memorial plaque to the crew to mark the event, adding HMM Gdansk's presence was proof that Kaohsiung provided efficient port services.
The southern Taiwanese harbor plans to open five deep-water piers in 2022 and 2023 to meet the demand from ever-larger container ships. HMM operates the six largest container vessels in the world, and all of them were delivered this year.
The construction was part of a five-year plan by the South Korean government that saw HMM acquire 200 new ships.
The journey of the Gdansk started in Busan but will take it through the Suez Canal to several of Western Europe’s largest ports before it makes a return trip that will again include Kaohsiung.
