Comment / Ultra large box ships and the distorted shipping cycle

ID 188026324 © Mr.siwabud Veerapaisarn | Dreamstime.com

Allow an old shipping scribe a few moments of reflection – this week’s Alphaliner research note included an item on the near 20 years since the launch of the Emma Maersk, the first ultra-large container vessel (ULCV).

Seriously?! Two decades?! Cripes.

Sometime around 2006, it could have been 2007 – really, memory fails… I joined a small group of industry journalists invited to Felixstowe to tour what was then the world’s largest boxship as it made its maiden call in the UK.

Reflecting ...