CMA CGM first global carrier at DCT Gdansk
France’s CMA CGM became the first top 10 global liner carrier to call at DCT Gdansk, Poland’s latest container terminal, when the 1,400-TEU feeder vessel Cape Fulmar called there on Wednesday.
CMA CGM is now expected to add Gdansk to its weekly FAS Baltic Poland that also calls at container terminals in Hamburg, Gdynia, and Klaipeda.
DCT Gdansk's General Manager Fred Kamperman said Cape Fulmar discharged 27 20-foot containers and six 40-foot units as well as loading two 40ft boxes.
“For a first call, we were really delighted to see so much cargo. When the shippers were loading these containers in Asia, for example, we were still rushing to finish the terminal in time for June 1, the start date we had set ourselves 24 months ago,” Kamperman said. “We are confident that we can attract much more cargo and more carriers now that we have been able to demonstrate our ability to perform.”
By September, the new terminal will be operating with three ship-to-shore cranes and five rubber-tired gantry cranes with attendant yard space and back-up machinery to give the facility an annual throughput capacity of 500,000 TEUs.
DCT Gdansk SA is a Polish registered company, majority owned by Global Infrastructure Fund, part of Australia’s Macquarie Bank Group. The U.K. company established to initiate the design and construction of the terminal retains a minority shareholding.