NSW Ports was pleased to welcome the largest container ship (by length) at Port Botany this week, with the safe arrival of the Maersk Soroe at DP World Australia's terminal on Sunday morning.
At 346.9 metres long, and 42.9 metres wide, the Maersk Soroe is the size of three and a half football fields and is nine metres longer than the previous record holder. The vessel was deployed as an 'empty sweeper', with the specific purpose of evacuating Maersk empty containers from Australia to demand locations in Asia. The ship loaded 3,756 empty containers, or roughly 40% of its total capacity of 9,578 Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (or TEUs - the standard measurement of a container) at Port Botany.
The vessel travelled to Australia from Thailand and departed Port Botany at 7.30pm on 29 March enroute to Melbourne where it will evacuate more empty containers before returning to Vietnam, mainland China and Hong Kong.
The empty sweeper is a welcome arrival, assisting in alleviating empty container build up caused by 'pandemic buying', as Australian consumers spend money on imported goods including home renovations and personal shopping rather than travel and experiences.
Big thank you to @ChatswoodPortography for capturing the amazing pics of her arrival!