A Singapore-flagged container ship arrived on Saturday, carrying Ecuadorian export products and will continue to Mexican ports before returning to Asia.
The largest and most capable vessel ever to arrive in the Andean country has arrived at the Ecuadorian deepwater port of Posorja, operated by DP World: the APL Fullerton, from the CMA CGM shipping company.
This container ship, flying the Singapore flag, left Asia to sail through the region in countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Peru and arrived in Ecuador on Saturday, September 14, 2024.
DP World said the vessel - with a length of 397.88 meters and a width of 51 meters - is the largest ship that Ecuador and the entire west coast of the South Pacific have received to date.
He also makes the comparison that its length is greater than the sum of three professional football fields, each 105 metres long. In addition, it has a maximum capacity of 17,292 TEU.
Through the Asia Central South America 1 shipping service, an exclusive service from the port of Posorja to the Asian market, products such as shrimp, bananas, wood, cocoa, minerals, among others, were exported on the container ship APL Fullerton.
After docking in Posorja, the ship will continue to the ports of Mexico, and then return to Asia.
He also points out that this is not the first time that DP World Posorja has made possible the direct and exclusive call of cutting-edge ships that have arrived in the region. Important vessels have already arrived at the public terminal:
1. CMA CGM from Argentina, in December 2022, which was then the largest and largest ship to enter the country, with a length of 366 metres and the capacity to move 15,000 TEU.
2. Three ships of the CMA CGM shipping line powered by liquefied natural gas, a fuel that mitigates greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants, between June and July 2023.
3. The latest milestone was the CMA CGM Alexander von Humboldt vessel, which exceeded 16,020 TEU and arrived at the Posorja terminal exactly one year ago, in September 2023. With a length of 396 meters, the equivalent of almost three times the size of the tallest building in Ecuador (The Point), it became the first ultra large container vessel (UCLV) to arrive at an Ecuadorian port.
4. It is now the megaship APL Fullerton, with a capacity of 17,292 TEU.
“We continue to consolidate Posorja as a strategic shipping point in the region. The arrival of these large-capacity mega-ships contributes to Ecuadorian foreign trade and strengthens the country's competitiveness in important markets such as Asia,” said Carlos Merino, CEO of DP World in Ecuador and Peru.
The company highlights that the arrival of vessels such as the APL Fullerton is possible due to the attributes of the DP World Posorja terminal, such as its deep and expeditious maritime access channel, its strategic location, a modern infrastructure equipped with large electric gantry cranes and advanced technology that meets high safety standards, as well as its operational efficiency.
“All of this has led the port to be recognized - for the third consecutive time - in the prestigious Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) ranking of the World Bank, in which it is currently positioned as number 3 among the most efficient terminals in the region and number 37 worldwide,” it said in a statement.
