Port Everglades has welcomed the MSC Vandya, the largest cargo ship ever to visit the port, though the occasion simultaneously underscored a critical infrastructure constraint. The vessel, measuring 1,200.2 feet in length with a gross tonnage of 143,521 and a capacity of 13,050 TEUs, arrived lightly loaded due to current water depth restrictions that limit incoming vessels to a maximum of 8,000 TEUs, negating the efficiency and environmental benefits that modern large container ships are designed to deliver. The MSC Vandya was diverted to Port Everglades as part of MSC’s Dragon Service to the Far East, with approximately 1,300 containers anticipated to be moved off the vessel and empty containers loaded for transport to Asia. Port Everglades Terminals LLC is the container terminal operator handling the call. Port Everglades CEO Joseph Morris used the occasion to highlight the competitive disadvantage the port faces until its navigational channel is deepened and widened, noting that ships are being built larger to carry more containers in fewer trips and thereby reduce their carbon footprint, but that Port Everglades cannot currently capture these efficiency and sustainability benefits. The Port Everglades Navigation Improvements Project, authorised by Congress in December 2016 following 30 years of Army Corps of Engineers work, calls for deepening the main channel from 42 feet to 48 feet with two feet of overdepth for a total of 50 feet, alongside widening the Intracoastal Waterway at a chokepoint near the US Coast Guard Station. The port continues to work with federal and state partners to advance the project, which is considered critical to retaining global business partners and reducing supply chain delays for the region. The post Port Everglades in urgent need for channel deepening appeared first on Container News .