It called at Felixstowe as part of the Asia/Europe Silk Express route.

MSC Pamela followed the 367m LOA Gudrun Maersk , which had visited the port earlier in the week.

Hutchison Ports (UK) corporate affairs manager Paul Davey used the occasion to remind the British Government of the need for additional deepwater terminal capacity.

He said, 'Ships of this size are becoming more and more common due to the growth in exports from China and the need for goods around the world. The UK is in urgent need of more deepwater container capacity to be able to accommodate vessels such as the MSC Pamela , and we will continue to push for our proposed new developments at Felixstowe South and Bathside Bay to enable us to meet this demand.'

The Felixstowe South Reconfiguration and the development of a new facility at Bathside Bay would create a container complex with 15 deepwater berths in a single location. Hutchison claims the development would create the only UK hub capable of providing sufficient volumes to support daily short sea feeder services to other parts of the United Kingdom. The increased use of such services would help to relieve pressure on the country's congested road network.

MJInformation No: 21009