Port of Piraeus welcomes largest boat so far – 20,000 containers shipped down Silk Road

On February 26, the biggest Chinese boat for transport of containers sailed into the Greek Port of Piraeus. Built this year, it is one of the biggest boats in the world and the biggest the port has welcomed so far.

Taurus, built by the Chinese company COSCO Shipping, is 400 meters long and 58 meters wide and transports 20,000 commercial containers of six meters in length, the Athens-based newspaper Kathimerini reported.

On its first trip from China to Roterdam, the boat, carrying the flag of Hong Kong, unloads a part of its cargo in Piraeus, which is one of the rare ports in Europe capable of handling it in terms of port and wharf length, as well as special cranes.

With the arrival of this boat, the part of Piraeus bought out by COSCO unofficially opens for traffic, and the modernization of this part will be completed this year. Once the works are completed, Piraeus will be the only port in the Mediterranean to be able to handle five boats of this size at the same time.

The investment is worth EUR 230 million, and COSCO previously bought 51% of the Port of Piraeus company for EUR 500 million.

Taurus, weighing a gross of 199,000 tons, sailed in to Piraeus with the help of five tugboats.

This boat and another one from the new category Giga Carriers, which can carry more than 18,000 containers each, will be operating the new maritime Silk Road, connecting China with Europe.

Piraeus is now the third biggest commercial port in the Mediterranean, and COSCO aims to make it the biggest port in the area and one of the biggest ports in the world by 2020.

Port of Piraeus

COSCO Shipping China

Taurus

Silk Road

Giga Carriers

modernization of the Port of Piraeus

investments in the Port of Piraeus

biggest boats in the world