North Carolina Ports welcomed Monday its first-ever 12,000 TEU vessel to the Port of Wilmington. The Singaporean-flagged container ship, ‘Kota Pekarang’, is the largest capacity-wise to call the port to date.
The Kota Pekarang is operated by ZIM in partnership with the 2M Alliance which links Asia to Wilmington.
This is a monumental milestone for North Carolina Ports and the Port of Wilmington. This is proof of concept that we are big ship ready and capable of handling some of the largest container vessels calling East Coast ports today,
…said said Paul J. Cozza, Executive Director, North Carolina Ports.
Additionally, according to North Carolina Ports Chief Commercial Officer Greg Fennell, the arrival of this ship signals that the port is ready of handling growing business needs.
The ship’s visit to Wilmington comes on the heels of the arrival of North Carolina Ports’ third neo-Panamax crane.
The third crane arrived in early April as part of the organization’s $200 million capital improvements plan aimed at expanding the Port of Wilmington’s infrastructure to accommodate a 14,000 TEU vessel – the largest ships currently calling the US East Coast.
NC Ports’ infrastructure improvements plan includes a wider turning basin, berth enhancements, new neo-Panamax cranes and an overhaul of Wilmington’s container terminal.
The terminal renovations will double the port’s annual throughput capacity to 1.2 million TEUs and triple its refrigerated container capacity to 1,000 plugs.
