Adani's Mundra Port Accommodates Container Ship as Long as 4 Football Fields

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) achieved a significant milestone as their flagship port, Mundra Port, welcomed the arrival of the MV MSC Hamburg on Sunday. This massive container ship, measuring 399 meters in length and 54 meters in width, is equivalent to the size of four football fields. Built in 2015, it has a carrying capacity of 15,908 TEUs (twenty feet equivalents) and currently has a draft of around 12 meters.

The successful berthing of the MV MSC Hamburg was made possible by the diligent efforts of APSEZ Mundra Marine Team, who accurately predicted the clearance required for the safe docking of the ship while considering various complex conditions of the vessel and real-time weather conditions.

This event coincides with the completion of a decade-long joint venture between APSEZ and the Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). The joint venture operates Adani International Container Terminal Pvt. Ltd. (AICTPL), which is the third container terminal at Mundra Port with a capacity of 1.5 million TEUs.

Gautam Adani, the chairman of the Adani Group, highlighted the strategic advantages of the JV, emphasizing the rapid access to the North and West India hinterland. The larger vessels calling at Mundra Port will provide significant cost advantages to port users, thus benefiting the trade on a larger scale.

It's worth noting that APSEZ has previously achieved a similar feat in 2021 when they berthed the APL Raffles, the largest vessel to have ever called at an Indian port. This vessel had a length of 397.88 meters and a breadth of 51 meters, with a carrying capacity of 13,892 TEUs.

Following a temporary suspension of services across ports due to Cyclone Biparjoy, Mundra Port has now resumed all its operations. The container movement has regained momentum after the restart of operations. In the fiscal year 2022-2023, APSEZ recorded a port cargo volume of 339 million metric tons (MMT).

APSEZ plays a crucial role in India's port infrastructure, representing 24 percent of the country's port capacity. The measurement of cargo at container ships is typically done in TEUs, which are the standard units for quantifying containerized cargo.