Two vessels from mega liners Hamburg Sud and Hapag-Lloyd made their maiden call and maiden voyage, respectively, at the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) as the terminal began to see positive volume growth beginning the third quarter of last year.

Hapag-Lloyd's 2,824 teu-capacity Cardonia arrived from Brisbane, and set off to Hong Kong, while Hamburg Sud's 2,568 teu-capacity Cap Bizerta docked at the MICT on its maiden voyage. Cap Bizerta came from Sydney, and also set off to Hong Kong.

Cardonia and Cap Bizerta are each to call at the MICT once a month. Both vessels are part of Hyundai Merchant Marine, Hapag-Lloyd, Hamburg Sud, and Shandong Yantai Marine Shipping joint and newly launched Asia Australia Service that plies the ports of Manila, Hong Kong, Yantian, Pusan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

The MICT is International Container Terminal Services, Inc.'s flagship operation, and is the country's largest and most modern container handling facility with an annual capacity of 1.5 million teus. Volumes in the terminal for the fourth quarter increased by seven percent: from 297,225 teus in 2005 to 318,803 teus in 2006.