MAERSK SHANGHAI, a 10,081 TEU container ship, the largest to ever call a Florida deepwater port was at PortMiami this week.

The MAERSK SHANGHAI is part of Maersk Line’s TP11 Service, MSC’s AMERICA Service, and the USEC-1 Service from the 2M Alliance, comprising both ocean carriers. The vessel is 1,063 feet long—about three football fields—and 159 feet wide.

The vessel’s service rotation includes Xiamen, Kaohsiung, Chiwan, Yantian, Vung Tau, Singapore, Salalah, Suez Canal, Newark, Norfolk, Savannah, Charleston, Miami, Freeport, Newark, Suez Canal, Singapore.

“We welcome the MAERSK SHANGHAI to PortMiami,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez. “Its arrival is a milestone for PortMiami as it also makes history by being the largest cargo container ship ever to visit a Florida port. Bigger ships represent the movement of more goods in and out of the port, which translates to growth and prosperity for our economy.”

“The MAERSK SHANGHAI is the first vessel in history to berth at PortMiami with a capacity of 10,000 TEUs,” said PortMiami Director and CEO Juan M. Kuryla. “PortMiami has made tremendous investments in infrastructure improvements to solidify its position as a world class Global Gateway. Today we’re the only full-service port on the East Coast of the U.S. south of Virginia with a channel depth of -50/-52 feet able to handle the larger super postpanamax ships.”

“Today’s arrival of the MAERSK SHANGHAI is the culmination of years of hard work by PortMiami and Port of Miami Terminal Operating Company [POMTOC] to ensure that we’re ready, willing, and able to handle these new PPX vessels,” said Carlos Arocha, COO of POMTOC. “We, at POMTOC, are very proud that our partner Maersk is the first carrier to schedule a PPX vessel at the port and more importantly the first to call in Florida. This is just the beginning of the first of many vessels to follow and we stand ready to welcome them and continue to provide the kind of professional service to which they are accustomed to at our terminal.”