The “MSC Barcelona” makes a stopover in Rouen
The “MSC Barcelona” set three new records between November 6 and 8 during its prepared stopover in Rouen, at the Moulineaux RVSL terminal in Grand-Couronne, downstream from the Norman capital.
With its 270 meters long, the container ship of the second largest shipowner in the world, constituting for the Rouen port the longest vessel received. Its 5,500 TEUs also enabled it to beat the local capacity record. Another unprecedented fact, he landed during this stopover 1,600 empty boxes.
These commercial operations responded to the shipowner’s desire to reposition containers in Rouen after the blockage of many ports in the world, in Asia and the United States in particular, due to health measures linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Containerized hub dreams
Neither the Italian-Swiss company nor Haropa Port communicated on this subject but the UPR (Rouen Port Union), which for several months had deplored a lack of empty boxes and the under-use of the RVSL terminal, welcomed the event: “The port of Rouen welcomes the largest container ship in its history. With more than 1,600 empty containers on board, it contributes to the resupply of our territory, which is experiencing strong demand in the face of the global shortage of equipment. .
It follows on from the previous MSC ships (“Insa” and “Samia”) which touched the port of Rouen. Hopefully this bodes well for an opportunity for the development of the Moulineaux terminal, thus making Rouen a full containerized hub “.