HS Paris, a Post-Panamax containership owned by German-based corporation Hansa Treuhand, berthed at the Liverpool2 deep-water container terminal on March 6, becoming the largest boxship to ever call at the Port of Liverpool following the phase 1 opening of the facility in November 2016.

“This is a huge milestone for Peel Ports and the Port of Liverpool. The whole team is delighted to welcome HS Paris to the city for the first time,” Mark Whitworth, Chief Executive of Peel Ports Group, said.

Featuring a length of 299.9 meters and a width of 40 meters, MS Paris has a capacity of 6,550 TEU.

Previously, the Port of Liverpool’s existing container terminal could only accommodate vessels of up to 4,500 TEU.

“While we have the capacity to handle vessels up to 20,000 TEU, smaller Post-Panamax ships are still very much part of our overall strategy and it’s essential that can accommodate those too. We can now do that thanks to our GBP 400 million investment at Liverpool2, providing a shorter route to market for UK importers and exporters, which reduces their costs, congestion and carbon emissions,” Whitworth added.

Liverpool2 was developed in response to changing trading patterns and shipping industry trends towards the use of ‘mega’ ocean-going containerships.

The new facility complements the existing Royal Seaforth Container Terminal at the Port of Liverpool, with each terminal having a capacity to handle around 1 million containers per year.