On April 16th, the Port of Oakland hosted Mediterranean Shipping Company’s MSC Anna, a 19,200 20-foot container ship, which is one of the largest container ships ever to dock at a North American port, according to Michael Zampa, the Port’s communication director.
Zampa told AJOT that the mega container ship “stopped at the Port of Long Beach to pick up empty containers before sailing to Oakland where it will unload import containers, pick up export containers and return to Shanghai.”
Zampa said, “The ship will tie up at Oakland International Container Terminal (OICT), the Port’s largest container terminal located on the Oakland Estuary. It’s scheduled to spend 24 hours here.”
“We’ve spent years, and millions of dollars keeping ahead of the pace of trade and the size of ships,” Port of Oakland Executive Director Danny Wan said in a statement.
The MSC Anna’s 19,200 20-foot cargo container capacity, makes it one of the largest vessels ever to visit a North American port, Zampa said.
Captain Joseph Long, president of the San Francisco Bar Pilots told AJOT that piloting of the 19,200 TEU Anna demonstrated that the Port of Oakland could handle the largest mega container ships.