A really, really big ship that can carry 10,589 standard containers:
Largest Ship to Transit Panama Canal Arrives in Colombia
Valparaiso Express, the largest capacity vessel to transit the Panama Canal since the inauguration of new neo-Panamax locks in June, has arrived in Colombia’s Caribbean port of Cartagena.
The ship, owned by German-Chilean cargo container shipping line Hapag-Lloyd and christened on Dec. 8 in Valparaiso, set sail from that Chilean port on an inaugural commercial journey that has taken it to Callao, Peru, through the Panama Canal and to Cartagena on Thursday.
“This new vessel is state-of-the-art, which translates into navigational speed between ports, better freight rates, and much more connectivity with the countries with which Colombia has free-trade agreements,” said Alfonso Salas, manager of the Cartagena Port Authority.
The first of five neo-Panamax class vessels that will renew Hapag Lloyd’s fleet, Valparaiso Express also became the largest container ship to pull into Cartagena.
The route starts in Asia, crosses the Canal using Cartagena, Colombia as a hub, and sails to Europe.
Read more about Valparaiso Express.
