MSC Marie becomes largest capacity Neopanamax to transit the Panama Canal

GENEVA : MSC Marie container ship crossed the Panama Canal and made a new record.

It became the biggest capacity Neopanamax to transit the strategic waterway, overtaking the earlier record holder, Evergreen’s Ever Max which made this record during its inaugural journey in August 2023.

MSC Marie is 366 m long, and 51 m wide and has a maximum carrying capacity of 17, 640 TEUs.

MSC Marie came from Port of Manzanillo, Mexico. Its transit shows the canal’s capacity to handle the biggest and most advanced ships and its relevance in world maritime trade.

This record is commendable since it came when the Panama Canal Authority is working to restore normal operations as it had reduced the number of daily ship transits and put draft restrictions due to prolonged drought conditions this year.

MSC Marie was delivered to MSC as a part of their ongoing fleet expansion. It is registered in Liberia and has the same basic dimensions as the previous record holder.

However, the Ever Max had a capacity of 17,312 TEU and transited the canal in 2023 when restrictions were in place. Hence, she had to offload some boxes which were then transshipped by rail across the isthmus to meet the draft restrictions.

MSC Marie and Ever Max are equal in size to the CMA CGM Zephyr which made the record in 2022 with 16, 285 TEU. However, the industry’s changes in loading systems have enabled more boxes to be loaded onto similar-sized ships.