North Carolina

As largest ships ever approach Wilmington port, optimism about impact on pork and agriculture



By Benjamin Schachtman on March 15, 2017

"These are the largest ships to visit Wilmington - they're the largest ships providing consistent service to the east coast."

WILMINGTON — A new trade route with Asia will bring massive new ships to the area. Port of Wilmington officials hope the new deal will have a positive impact, specifically on North Carolina’s pork industry.

Cliff Pyron, a spokesman for the port said, “the ships on this route are the largest ships to visit Wilmington for a weekly service – in fact, they’re the largest ships providing consistent service to the east coast.”

The ‘EC2’ route – operated by THE Alliance – will connect Wilmington with weekly service from Shangai and other Asian ports by 8,500 TEU (20-foot equivalent) vessels. In comparison, the Maersk and MSC ships that will begin service from northern Europe to Wilmington next month are less than 5,000 TEU (a full-sized 18-wheeler pulls a 2-TEU container).

THE Alliance, a massive international group of shipping companies, will begin operations in April, with service in Wilmington to begin in May. It was formed, in part, to take on the massive 2M alliance of the world’s two largest shipping company, Maersk and the Mediterranean Shipping Company.

Cliff Pyron said the 2M Asia-to-Wilmington route, opened in November of last year, quickly attracted interest from the new competition.

More at link.

http://portcitydaily.com/2017/03/15/as-largest-ships-ever-approach-wilmington-port-optimism-about-impact-on-pork-and-agriculture/