The head of the Suez Canal Economic Zone Authority, Mohab Mamish announced on Friday the successful transit of the MSC GULSUN, the world’s largest container ship in its first voyage since its launch, through the New Suez Canal.
The ship sailed in the south convoy on its voyage from the port of Xingiang, bound for northwestern Europe and flying the Panama flag.
The ship follows the MSC shipping line, the first of its kind with a capacity of 23,756 containers, and is one of the 11 ships built by the shipping line in the Korean arsenals Samsung and Daewoo in 2017.
It is planned to operate between the Far East and Northwest Europe via the Suez Canal. The ship is 400 meters long, 61.4 meters wide, 16 meters deep and a load of 232,000 tons.
Mamish boarded the ship to welcome the crew, check on its transit and provide all maritime safety procedures, including the appointment of the most qualified guides in addition to assisting tugboats.
He said that the Suez Canal will continue to be the backbone of world trade and the world’s largest and most developed shipping lane.
The ship’s captain lauded the Suez Canal Development Project, which facilitates the passage of giant ships and vessels as well as the flexible marketing polices that have succeeded to attracting new global container shipping companies that never crossed the canal before.
He also expressed pleasure at this voyage through the Suez Canal, stressing that the new channel saves long period of time and fuel. He further lauded the high efficiency of shipping services provided by the Suez Canal Authority and all those involved in the navigation movement.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
