After setting new records for a surge in activity this past year, there is more good news coming out of the Port of Boston. On April 3, 2016, the largest vessel ever to call Boston arrived for testing. As the shipping industry continues to use larger ships, many ports around the country are receiving visits to test out handling these new ships. The trial at the Port of Boston port featured an 8500 TEU vessel, the CSCL Africa. The ship successfully docked and serviced, passing all tests.
The testing was necessary because of the terminal’s proximity to Logan Airport, and the lower profile of the gantry cranes at Conley. Their low profile combined with the depth of the channels, the size of the vessel, and its arrival during high tides, made unloading at Conley Terminal a challenge under these conditions because the terminal’s cranes do not have access to reach every container. Even though this was a successful test, the Port of Boston could better service larger ships with deeper channels.
Based on information from OCEANAIR’s partner agents in China, COSCO/CSCL ((China Ocean Shipping Company/China Shipping Container Lines) was happy with results, and even though there is no official confirmation yet, all indications show that Chinese shipping giant will continue a direct call with Boston. There are also plans to add a new service that will call North China to East Coast including Boston, but OCEANAIR is still waiting for official confirmations of final ports, service name, and transits. This test also indicates that there will be more vessels participating in the rotation for this route after the summer months once the Panama Canal expansion finishes. OCEANAIR expects an official announcement with the new details over the next two months.
Please contact your OCEANAIR representative for more information.
