On November 30th, the Neopanamax container ship Theseus arrived at the Port’s largest facility, Maher Terminals. Port department staff were on hand to welcome Captain Tsipouras Dimitrios and his crew, presenting the captain with a plaque to celebrate the ship’s inaugural visit.

Theseus joins the Triton, which made its first visit to the Port earlier this year, as one of the largest vessels to enter the Port of New York and New Jersey. Both ships are chartered by Evergreen and are deployed on the operator’s Far East to U.S. East Coast service as part of the OCEAN Alliance network, which connects Asia and U.S. East Coast ports by means of the Panama Canal.

Cargo volume has steadily increased over the past year as larger vessels call on the Port, and Maher Terminals, located at Port Elizabeth, is capable of handling multiple ultra-large container ships simultaneously. One advantage of ultra-large container ships, which range from 14,000 to 21,000 TEUs, is the ability for them to carry more containers with a fewer number of vessels, which helps reduce the environmental impact.

Delivered in 2016, Theseus is capable of carrying 14,424 TEUs, and has a 20-row beam that spans 51 meters (168 feet) and is 369 meters (1,211 feet) long. Theseus, along with the Triton represent the largest ships of this dimension to travel through the Panama Canal since the canal was expanded in 2016.