The arrival of the 2,732-teu Racha Bhum at DCT Gdansk’s terminal in Poland on was noteworthy on three counts. Firstly, she was the first vessel to call at the deepwater terminal on her maiden voyage; secondly, she is the biggest ship so far handled by DCT Gdansk; and, thirdly, she is the first vessel to load containers at this Polish terminal for direct carriage to Asia.

Racha Bhum was delivered to the Singaporean carrier Regional Container Lines (RCL) by the Polish shipyard Stocznia Gdynia at the end of August and chartered by Hapag-Lloyd for her delivery voyage to Asia. She loaded 1002 empty containers, equivalent to over 1,500-teu.

DCT Gdansk handled the ship very efficiently. Using three ship-to-shore cranes, the loading rate averaged 88.1 moves per hour.

According to DCT Gdansk’s Chief Executive Officer, Boris Wenzel, the successful loading of this vessel in just 12 hours is further proof that DCT Gdansk is ready to handle deep-sea vessels when carriers decide that the time is right for direct services into the Baltic.

Mark Wottke, Managing Director of Hapag-Lloyd Poland, praised the excellent cooperation between all of the parties involved, including those from DCT Gdansk and the vessel owner.