Visit of MSC vessel helps PSA Panama break move record

PSA Panama has broken its record for the highest number of moves in a single call following the arrival of MSC Anchorage.

In a statement, PSA Panama said it made 5,154 moves when the vessel called on 29 July 2020, almost double the previous record of 2,700.

Additionally, 30% of the containers it moved were reefers, a sign of the growing need for refrigerated shipping in the region.

MSC Anchorage – with a total capacity of 8,800 TEUs – is part of a weekly service route between North Europe and the West Coast of South America, making calls at ports like PSA Antwerp, PSA Sines and Sociedad Puerto Industrial Aguadulce (SPIA).

PSA Panama attributed the achievement to “good teamwork”, and said the operations team “resolutely planned the execution in great detail” and “worked closely” with MSC’s vessl planners and local team.

The result, the company said, was six quay cranes working “hand-in-hand” to complete the operation, eventually achieving approximate crane productivity of 23 moves per hour.

In the first half of 2020, PSA Panama’s volumes grew by 34 per cent, which can partially be attributed to a strong fruit harvest and increased demand for reefers in Latin America.

In June 2020, PSA Panama also managed to secure the members of THE ALLIANCE and X-Press Feeders to bring 5 additional weekly calls, positioning PSA Panama for further growth.