Megaships in Manzanillo

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The world's largest shipping companies have chosen the port of Manzanillo to do business, thanks to the advanced infrastructure and the port's ability offer quality services to all companies within the port community.

Hamburg Süd will increase its trading volume in Manzanillo by more than 30%. Their new megaships arriving this July 2011, are capable of carrying 5,500 TEUs (A TEU is a Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit, a measure used for capacity in container transportation). Before the new megaships, the average contained load was 4,200 TEUs.

The first ship of this new fleet of Hamburg Süd, the Mounte Aconcagua will arrive in Manzanillo in mid-July, from Asia. Hamburg Süd is ranked at position 14 of the world's top 100 of the largest container lines in the world.

The port of Manzanillo is a leader in the movement of containers in Mexico, and is the seventh largest port in Latin America. It ranks fifth in the world as the fastest growing port. Manzanillo has become the port where the best shipping companies in the world operate, including APM Terminals, Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC), CMA CGM Group, COSCO Container Lines, Hapag-Lloyd, APL Ltd., CSAV Group, NYK Line, Hamburg Süd..
The port authority, Administración Portuaria Integral (API) of Manzanillo, Colima, welcomed the arrival of three post-Panamax megaships, with a capacity of 8,000 TEU's from MSC between April and May.

According to information from API, the first arrival of these ships was April 24 2011 with the MSC Seroja Lima, having a length of 316 meters (1,037 ft.), width of 45.5 meters (150 ft.) with a capacity of 8,540 TEU's, one of the largest vessels that has made an appearance in the port.

On May 22nd, the MSC Busan, arrived. The Busan has capacity of 8,089 TEU’s. This ship has a length of 325 meters (1,066 ft.), equivalent to about three football fields, and a breadth of 42.8 meters (140 ft.).

The third of this type is the MSC Rachelle, a post-Panamax vessel with a length of 334 meters (1,95 ft.), and beam of 42.8 meters (140 ft.). It arrived May 29th, and has a capacity of 8,238 TEUs.

In the first quarter of the year Manzanillo received 489 ships, 18% more compared to the same period in 2010, when the port received 414 ships.

Manzanillo is the port that received more ships in this period, according to the National Port System, made of 17 different international ports.