SHENZHEN's Yantian International Container Terminals (YICT) welcomed the inaugural call of the world's biggest box ship, the 18,000-TEU Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller this week.

"The choice of YICT as a port-of-call for Maersk's newest and largest containership is a testament to shipping lines' confidence in our expertise when it comes to handling mega-vessels," said YICT managing director Patrick Lam at a welcoming ceremony attended by Maersk Line's south China manager David Skov and 150 guests,

Mr Lam pointed out that YICT has the geographical advantage of deep-water, together with contiguous berths and state-of-the-art operational technology, "making it a preferred port-of-call in the region for mega-vessels".

To date, 95 per cent of the world's 168 mega-ships, that is, ships bigger than 10,000 TEU, have called YICT. On this occasion, the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller handled 1,682 containers during its stopover.

The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, which is 400 metres stem to stern and 59 metres abeam, is deployed on the Maersk's Asia-Europe service and is the first of the liner's Triple-E series, meaning "efficiency, economies of scale and environment".

YICT is a member of HPH Trust, the world's first container port business trust, which is listed in Singapore. YICT is also a part of Hutchison Port Holdings' (HPH) global network of port and logistics operations, and continues to have access to services and resources enjoyed by companies within the HPH Group.

HPH, a subsidiary of Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa Limited, is the world's leading port investor, developer and operator.