North Carolina ports announced on Monday, April 22, that it welcomed its first ever 12,000 TEU vessel to the Port of Wilmington. The Kota Pekarang vessel is the largest capacity-wise to call the port. It is operated by ZIM in collaboration with 2M Alliance, linking Asia to Wilmington.
According to Paul J. Cozza, Executive Director, North Carolina Ports
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.
Also, North Carolina Ports Chief Commercial Officer Greg Fennell stated that the arrival of this vessel specifically marks the capacity of the port of handling their developing business needs.
The ship’s arrival at the port is in line with 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 United States 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 is to double the port’s annual throughput capacity to 1.2 million TEUs and triple its refrigerated container capacity to 1,000 plugs.
As Paul J. Cozza concluded
When you consider our investment strategy and couple that with our best-in-class landside and waterside efficiencies, NC Ports is poised to continue to see unprecedented growth and attract more customers to North Carolina’s ports.