Abu Dhabi Port Welcomes World's Largest Container Carrier

"COSCO SHIPPING SOLAR" docked at the Abu Dhabi Port on May 25, confirming improvement in the port's ability to handle heavy carriers.

The 400-meter long and 58.6-meter wide carrier can hold as many as 21,000 standard containers, which makes it the largest container freighter in the world. It is also the second ultra-large container ship with more than 20000TEU carrying capacity to have berthed at the port.

Sun Xudong, captain of the ship, said the course through the Persian Gulf was the ship's maiden voyage since it was manufactured in China.

"Last time when I traveled the line was ten years ago, driving a 2000TEU ship. Now, the carrier is able to carry more than 20,000 containers, which is a rapid development for affected countries' trade as well as Belt and Road businesses."

The ship is one of COSCO SHIPPING Group's six-vessel flotilla and mainly serves the company's Asia-Middle East lines which cover main ports in Middle East countries.

The Port of Abu Dhabi was jointly built by the Abu Dhabi Port Authority of the United Arab Emirates and China COSCO SHIPPING Group and has become a model of Belt and Road projects.

It was the first Middle Eastern project invested in by COSCO SHIPPING Group and was its first overseas holding construction project.

Construction of the port started in November 2017 and was completed in December 2018. The port began trial service in April this year and is expected to officially open in the year's third quarter.

The semi-automated port can serve large vessels carrying more than 20,000 standard containers and its designed capacity is 2.5 million standard containers per year.

The port also has the largest container freight station (CFS) in the Middle East, which covers about 275,000 sq m. The CFS is the first semi-automated freight station and provides services including transportation of bonded containers, packaging and short-term storage.

As the port is located at the junction of main international lines of Asia, Africa and Europe, COSCO SHIPPING Group plans to develop branches and build a transferring network to improve its cargo handling capacity.

It is expected that Abu Dhabi will become a competitive regional hub and a shipping service center linking the industrial zones and supporting diversified economic growth. The port will play a role in driving regional economic development and be a main pivot for China's international trade.

"COSCO SHIPPING SOLAR" docks at the Abu Dhabi Port on May 25. [Photo/COSCO SHIPPING Group]

(Executive editor: Li Shuling)