North Carolina Ports made history on April 22 by welcoming its first-ever 12,000 TEU vessel to the Port of Wilmington.
The ship, Kota Pekarang, is so far the largest capacity-wise vessel to call the port. The containership is operated by Israel-based liner company 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,” Paul J. Cozza, Executive Director, North Carolina Ports, said.
“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,”
BIG NEWS: NC Ports welcomed its first ever 12,000 TEU vessel to the Port of Wilmington Monday! This milestone solidifies our capabilities of handling the largest ships calling East Coast ports! Read more here: https://t.co/xhXoT4JqOh #ncports #portofwilmington #portofprogress pic.twitter.com/ISNwaRNULT
— NC Ports (@NCPorts) April 22, 2019
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 USD 200 million capital improvements plan aimed at expanding the Port of Wilmington’s infrastructure to accommodate the 14,000 TEU vessels – 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 will double the port’s annual throughput capacity to 1.2 million TEUs and triple its refrigerated container capacity to 1,000 plugs.