PHOTO: LINKEDIN
In a major milestone for South Africa’s maritime and logistics sector, Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) is preparing to welcome the MSC Nicola Mastro, one of the world’s largest container ships, to the Ngqura Container Terminal (NCT) on Thursday, weather permitting.
This marks the first time in NCT’s operational history that a vessel of this scale will berth at the terminal, signifying a new chapter for the Eastern Cape’s deepwater transshipment hub.
Spanning 400 metres in length and 61.5 metres in beam, the Nicola Mastro exceeds the size of previous vessels handled at NCT, which until now were typically limited to 366-metre class ships.
With a towering profile nearly 3 metres taller than average vessels at the terminal and a tidal draft of 16.1 metres, this ultra-large container vessel (ULCV) presents both a challenge and a landmark opportunity for the port’s operations.
“This historic vessel call is a proud moment for the NCT,” Wandisa Vazi, TPT Eastern Cape managing executive told Engineering News. “It demonstrates our readiness to handle the world’s biggest ships and reinforces our role as a world-class terminal in Africa’s logistics chain.”
Engineering and Planning Excellence
To prepare for the Nicola Mastro’s arrival, TPT’s planning and engineering teams undertook extensive readiness simulations and technical assessments.
These included detailed modeling of berthing dynamics and site infrastructure capability, ensuring the terminal’s operational systems and workforce are equipped for the vessel’s unique requirements.
A Titan of Global Trade
Built in 2023 by Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in China, the MSC Nicola Mastro is part of the Celestino Maresca-class of mega-vessels owned by the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).
With a capacity of 24,166 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and a deck area equivalent to four football fields, the ship can carry up to 25 container layers stacked both above and below deck. The ship is named in honour of Captain Nicola Mastro, a distinguished veteran of MSC’s cargo division, whose decades-long service is memorialised in the vessel’s identity.
The vessel has already made waves across the globe with appearances at major ports in Asia and Europe, including a high-profile christening in Trieste, Italy.
Landmark docking in Eastern Cape
The arrival of the Nicola Mastro is said not be just a first for Ngqura, but a symbol of South Africa’s growing capability as a key player on global mega-shipping routes.
As the country’s only deepwater transshipment hub, NCT’s successful handling of the vessel will showcase the Eastern Cape and South Africa’s readiness to accommodate the increasing trend toward ultra-large container vessels in international trade.
