Fairview Terminal welcomed the largest container ship to stop in Prince Rupert on Sept. 22.
The 350-metre-long COSCO Guangzhou docked in Prince Rupert’s harbour in the early morning on Saturday after taking ten days to travel from Shanghai, China. Guangzhou is the largest vessel in COSCO’s Pacific Northwest fleet.
"The arrival of the COSCO Guangzhou is indeed a monumental event for the Port of Prince Rupert, and the fact that our terminal operator and local workforce are able to meet this milestone with a 'business-as-usual' approach truly speaks to our unprecedented progress over the last five years," Don Krusel, President and CEO of the Prince Rupert Port Authority, said.
"The speed and reliability of our service is more evident than ever as we continue to prove Prince Rupert is a world-class transload facility with a world-class workforce."
The COSCO Guangzhou has a total capacity of 9,500 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and can carry up to 107,000 metric tonnes. When it arrived in Prince Rupert, the Guangzhou was at 89 per cent capacity. The vessel is significantly larger than previous ships like the 334-metre COSCO Prince Rupert with a total capacity of 8,500 TEUs.
During the ship’s time in Prince Rupert, terminal operators Maher Terminals and ILWU Local 505 will handle 4,100 containers, which will be moved off and on the vessel and will be redistributed onboard the carrier. This is significantly more than the 2,000 containers moved on average on other vessels.
“The Guangzhou’s visit has shown that Prince Rupert can handle larger container vessels as efficiently and safely as average-sized carriers. When the Guangzhou returns, or if other vessels its size begin to frequent our port, Prince Rupert’s terminal partners and longshoremen will be ready,” Michael Gurney, manager of corporate communications for the Prince Rupert Port Authority, said.
The vessel is scheduled to leave Prince Rupert on Monday, Sept. 24.