THE 18,000-TEU Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, the world's biggest containership, was greeted by Hong Kong Police Band, lion dancing and scores of dignitaries and media, after it docked at Modern Terminals on the return-leg of Asia-Europe voyage.

The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller is the first of 20 Triple-E vessels developed by Maersk Line and built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) in Korea. It started its maiden in July, having called 13 ports in Europe and Asia before arriving at Hong Kong.

"Hong Kong has been for decades one of the busiest container ports in the world and it is one of the current three gateways in South China," said Maersk's South China managing director David Skov, before inviting scores of customers, local dignitaries and the media on a tour of the vessel.

After calling at Hong Kong, the vessel will be calling at Busan to complete its first rotation.

At a press conference, Mr Skov said he hoped China would one day open its cabotage to all foreign vessels not simply those foreign vessels owned by Chinese companies - as his home country Denmark has done.

He attributed falling freight rates this year to carrier indiscipline, saying that last year's rate picture was better because carriers were more determined to police capacity.

Mr Skov insisted that Maersk, the world's biggest carrier, while prepared to defend its market share was not attempting to enlarge it. Nor did he think the P3, the operational but not commercial alliance between Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM, would add to capacity.

"We haven't seen a Christmas or Golden Week rush this year, traditionally this season should be very strong for trade, but it's going to be different this year," Mr Skov said, describing the sluggish market.

He expected another Maersk rate increase in November as it had fallen below the break even level of US$1,000 to $1,100. "The current rate is simply not sustainable, it has to come up," he said.