3 days ago
MSC Irina, billed as largest ship in the world, calls at Vizhinjam
MSC Irina, known as the biggest container vessel in the world operated by a Swiss-based container shipping giant, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), reached the outer anchorage of the Vizhinjam International Seaport on Tuesday evening. This is the first time MSC Irina, the lead ship of the MSC Irina-class, a series of six identical ultra-large container vessels (ULCVs), is sailing into the coast of a south Asian port.
Berthing of the ship is expected on Saturday or Sunday, as another six more vessels are in the queue to berth at the port before Irina. The Irina-class ships have a capacity of 24,346 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units). The vessel could carry more than 24,300 standard 20-foot shipping containers stacked up to 22 decks.
MSC Irina, amassive ship measuring 399.99 m in length and 61.3 m in beam, is the third ship in the Irina-class to call at the port. Earlier, MSC Türkiye and MSC Michel Cappellini, belonging to the same class, had called at the port here. The MSC Irina is expected to discharge around 4,000 container movements here.
2.20 lakh TEUs
The port has handled a total of around 7.2 lakhs TEUs containers after the trial run and subsequent operations began at the port. In the current financial year, the port has managed to handle around 2.20 lakh TEUs containers, according to the port authorities.
