Halifax breaks record by welcoming largest container ship to ever call on North America’s east coast

The largest container ship to ever call on North America’s east coast arrived in the Port of Halifax on Monday night from South Asia.

With a length that’s equivalent to nearly three-and-a-half football fields, the Marco Polo was hard to miss at the port.

Nova Scotia Premier Iain Rankin was among those who came to see the vessel on Tuesday, saying big ships represented jobs and opportunities.

“It’s really great to see. It’s a good sign our economy is moving,” Rankin said.

“It’s great that Halifax can take something of this magnitude in here. It really speaks to our economy.”

Rankin later tweeted that the ship was being loaded with Nova Scotia blueberries, potatoes and other fresh produce for ports abroad.

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“For Halifax it’s exciting and it’s important for us to be able to be a part of taking these ships because it’s so big, if it wasn’t calling here in Halifax, it wouldn’t be calling at any Canadian port,” said Halifax Port Authority spokesperson, Lane Farguson.

“So it’s nice from that perspective to be able to berth and service and turn these large vessels around quickly and efficiently.”

The ship boasts a 16,022 TEU — or twenty-foot equivalent unit. In other words, the ship is able to hold 16,022 twenty-foot long containers.

Farguson says — similar to other container ships that arrive in Halifax — more than 60 per cent of the cargo would be loaded immediately onto rail and is destined for Quebec, Ontario and the American mid-west.

And as with all the other cargo ships that have been arriving during the pandemic, COVID-19 protocols would be followed.

“The crews will immediately start to unload cargo and then load some boxes back up but they won’t be taking the entire load off of her. They’ll take off a couple of layers and put some back on,” he explained.

“You wouldn’t discharge a vessel of that size at a single port because it would overwhelm the supply chain.”

2:00 Vessels called in to help with backlog of diverted cargo containers in Halifax

The vessel’s arrival wasn’t without controversy.

The premier’s tweet on Tuesday, which featured a photo of him meeting with Allan Gray, president of the Halifax Port Authority, prompted some people to question whether his trip to the port was essential in the midst of a pandemic.

The province has been under strict lockdown measures since April 28 when the third wave of COVID-19 arrived in the Maritimes. Since then, Rankin has encouraged people to limit their travel — even within their own communities.

The Marco Polo is next scheduled to arrive at the Port of New York and New Jersey on Thursday, before stopping at other American ports.

— With a file from The Canadian Press