Video: Boston's Largest Ship Ever Docks After Port Upgrades

For the second time in 2022, the Port of Boston has broken its record with the largest ever container vessel arriving in the port. The larger ships are coming to the port as part of a multi-year expansion project recently completed designed to make the port more accessible and add new capabilities at the port’s Conley Terminal.

The COSCO Shipping Rose (146,700 dwt) arrived in Boston early on October 20 to claim the title of the largest vessel to dock at the container terminal. The 1,200-foot container vessel is rated with a capacity of 13,500 TEU. She arrived from New York after an earlier call in Savannah on COSCO’s route serving China, Vietnam, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and Greece along with the U.S. East Coast.  The vessel departed Boston in the late afternoon heading for Greece.

A port spokesperson told the Boston Globe they did not have details on the cargo. They highlighted however that the Conley Terminal is New England’s only full-service container facility. Typically they said the port handles cargoes including furniture and home goods, footwear, clothing, office supplies, wine and spirits, recycled fibers, sporting goods, and seafood.

Previously, in January 20222, the Ever Fortune (135,000 dwt) had established the record for the largest vessel. Operated by Evergreen, the vessel was just five feet shorter at 1,095 feet in length with a capacity of 11,875 TEU.

Making the arrival of these vessels possible, the port last month marked the completion of critical infrastructure investments as part of a nearly $850 million plan to upgrade the Port of Boston. A multi-year, multi-phase partnership between the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Massport, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deepened the main ship channel to 47 feet along with expanding the turning basin to permit larger vessels to reach the terminal. 

At the terminal, the berth was expanded and now has a depth of up to 50 feet. The terminal now features three large ship-to-shore cranes along with other improvements, including new rubber-tire gantry cranes, expanded container storage, and new refrigerated container racks.

Before the port’s modernization, they noted that the Conley Terminal offered two services reaching seven major global ports. With the completion of these infrastructure investments, Conley Terminal now offers direct connectivity to China, North Europe, Southeast Asia including Vietnam and India, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Latin America through five services. A sixth service was scheduled to start in October. Conley is now connected to 25 global ports.