Container transport the most enormous of the container ships visiting the ports of the Coast today are the ones built in 2006 roku Emma Maersk, row gauges 400 meters in length and also able to take on board once 15 500 TEU (i.e. 20-foot containers).
Because the Danish straits enormously choke the size of the vessels entering the Baltic Sea in maritime transport (this is for major drafts) not to be expected, that the larger vessels under construction will be moored in domestic seaports all the time, to guarantee the optimal container - transport.
Today (03.2013) the largest of the sea-going vessels offering container transport could be CMA CGM Marco Polo. It measures less, because 396 metrów, although it manages to take on board over 16 thousand. TEU!
This is not the end of constantly increasing transport weight in the maritime economy. Ships that can be taken on board are already planned 18 000 TEU! Why such popularity of large units? The answer may, of course, be the economy. In the current world, where is the maritime transport market, in particular, the container can be very orderly, and the main logistic lines determined by the best weapon on the way to gaining a competitive advantage may be the ability to transport the largest number of containers in the shortest time.
Because it is no longer possible to achieve a lot more speed on the routes traveled systematically without a gigantic increase in the cost of transporting containers (fuel) the market went the other way, tj. Larger ocean units are being built all the time, which reach all ports that can accommodate such huge container ships and ensure economical transport of the container.
These ports become nodal ports (mushrooms) for smaller destinations. From these hubs, containers are transported with the help of smaller container ships (feeders) to other ports. Undoubtedly, from the point of view of economy and services, container transport can be appropriate, so that large container ships want to enter the deepest when it is and reach them directly without having to reload them on feeders ( transport morski ).
In that case, the success of the Emma Maersk connection to the DCT terminal in Gdańsk as well as the significant increase in the capacity of container ships in recent years, e.g.. MSC forms calling at Gdynia.
What are the size limitations of modern ships? Apart from purely technological issues, the narrowest throats here are the straits as well as the canals located on the main sea trade routes.
The most commonly known term from this range of concepts is "Panamax". This term refers to ships with maximum overall dimensions, guaranteeing navigation through the Panama Canal.
Parameters that such a unit must fulfill, to: maximum 294,1 m in length, 32,3 m wide, 12,0 m draft as well 57,9 m in height from the waterline to the highest point of the ship.
There are both different characteristics: Suezmax - that is, ships that can cross the Suez Canal, Balticmax- – the largest units that can enter the Baltic Sea or, for example,. Malaccamax is becoming more and more important, tj. a vessel of maximum dimensions permitting navigation through the Strait of Malacca.
These barriers determine the movements in which the maritime economy specializes in growth, as well as services container transport a także transport kontenera ( container transport ).