MAERSK’s Skarstind has continued its voyage around Australia, successfully docking at Melbourne earlier this week.
The 300metre box ship, one of the largest container vessels to visit Australia, is making its way around the coast with stops at Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Fremantle as part of a ‘boomerang service’ to South East Asia.
Maersk Skarstind (IMO 9740457, flagged in Liberia) is one of two big containers ships to have arrived in Australia in recent days, the other being MSC Elma.
It was said to have been “an impressive sight” on the Yarra River as it passed under the West Gate Bridge and berthed at Patrick Terminals – Melbourne.
Maersk Oceania managing director Henrik Jensen said Maersk was pleased to bring the Maersk Skarstind into Melbourne and thanked Port of Melbourne, Victorian Ports Corporation, Patrick Terminals – Melbourne and other stakeholders involved, for their “great efforts”.
“The ability to call Australian main ports with vessels of this size is a very positive development for the future of shipping in Australia for years to come,” Mr Jensen said.
“As part of Maersk’s continuous focus to meet client requirements and drive network efficiencies, port calls such as this for the Maersk Skarstind allow us to test network and infrastructure aspects for potential future considerations.”
Port of Melbourne chief executive Brendan Bourke, welcomed the ship’s arrival.
“The arrival of the Maersk Skarstind sends a clear message to industry that the Port of Melbourne stands ready to accommodate the largest vessels servicing Australian trade,” Mr Bourke said.
Patrick Terminals chief executive Michael Jovicic said the Patrick Terminals team recognised the work of the entire team.
“Everyone including the harbour master, port operations, pilots, Svitzer and the Maersk Singapore operations centre should be commended on this achievement,” Mr Jovicic said.
At the time of publication, Maersk Skarstind was in Adelaide.
