The world's largest container ship arrived in Europe this week, where it will call in ports in the Netherlands and Germany.

On Wednesday, HMM Algericas reached major Dutch port Rotterdam on its maiden voyage from Yantian, China.

Here the ship will unload some containers before embarking on Saturday for Hamburg, where it will arrive Sunday.

The ship has a maximum capacity of almost 24,000 teu, which makes it slightly bigger than the previous record holder, MSC Gülsün with 23,756 teu.

HMM Algeciras is currently carrying a little over 19,600 containers on board. The ship is owned by South Korean shipping line HMM, which was previously named Hyundai Merchant Marine.

Container ships have grown significantly in the past ten years, and all major shipping companies now have ultra-large ships in their fleet. The ultra-large container ships operate mainly on the key trade routes between China and Europe.

While the giant ships lower costs per container for the shipping lines and are better for the environment, they also create significant logistical challenges for the ports.

The Port of Hamburg told ShippingWatch earlier in the year how a port call from one of the enormous ships requires around 3,800 trucks and 50 freight trains 48 hours before and after the ship's arrival.

English Edit: Daniel Logan Berg-Munch

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