The arrival from China of the Rickmers-owned containership Maersk Elba at the DCT Gdansk terminal on 11 May marked a new era in Baltic shipping. At 13,092TEU and carrying containers 17-wide below deck and 19-wide on the hatchcovers, she is the biggest container vessel by far ever handled by a Baltic port.
Whilst in the port, Maersk Elba was visited by many dignatories including Donald Tusk, Poland’s current Prime Minister, the iconic Lech Walesa, the former union leader who successfully ran for the newly re-established office of President of Poland in 1990, and Eivind Kolding, CEO of Maersk Line. They were welcomed on board by the vessel’s master, Captain Wojciech Kucz, whose hometown happens by coincidence to be Gdansk.
Having spent longer in port than usual, Maersk Elba finally sailed on the return leg of her voyage on 14 May.
Built at the Hyundai shipyard in Ulsan, Maersk Elba was actually christened Scorpio Rickmers by Joan Engelstoft, wife of Morten Engelstoft, Senior Vice President and COO of Maersk Line, on 17 February 2011. She was then renamed Maersk Elba for the duration of her longterm charter to the Danish shipping line.
