This week saw a big milestone set at the Port of Jacksonville (Jaxport) in Florida as the port saw its largest-ever ship to call.
On Tuesday, the vessel One Stork called Jaxport, arriving at the port’s Blount Island terminal. The Jacksonville Port Authority announced that the cargo ship was the largest one to ever call the port, and as such, a new record was set there.
The vessel was easily spotted by drivers who drove by Jaxport, due to its very large size as a “mega vessel” and its unique color: the vessel was painted in magenta color.
One Stork won’t be the only mega vessel to call Jaxport in the near future.
Going forward, ships that are similar in size to One Stork will be calling Jaxport often, with similarly-sized ships arriving once a week. The mega vessels will call as part of a deal with the Ocean Network Express (ONE) Alliance.
One Stork has a capacity of 14,000 TEUs. This beats the previous record for the largest vessel to call Jaxport, which had just over 11,900 TEUs. The vessel is carrying a variety of cargo including everything from appliances to furniture and specialized medical equipment.
Larger vessels like One Stork are able to call Jaxport because of renovations and upgrades taking place in the port complex.
For example, Jaxport’s SSA Marine Terminal is receiving a big upgrade and earlier capacity upgrades were made when the St. John’s River was deepened to 47 feet, allowing bigger cargo ships to use the waterway. The deepening project cost over $420 million, making it one of the most costly, but effective deepening efforts.
