Posted on March 6, 2023
The port of Rotterdam will widen its Yangtze Canal to allow two-way traffic for megamaxes to its giant Maasvlakte 2 port complex.
The jumboisation of containerships, which have quadrupled in size this century, has meant that only one megamax boxship can transit the 600 m wide, 2 km long canal at present. The widening of the waterway should be completed by 2030, Rotterdam port officials have confirmed.
Other European ports, notably Hamburg, have had to carry out similar waterway widening operations in recent years to accommodate the flood of 20,000+ teu ships now operating on the Asia-Europe tradelane.
