Dr Gatt was speaking on board the CSCL Asia, the world’s largest container ship, which holds up to 8,500 containers. He said that the arrival of the largest container vessel in the world, and the signing of the privatisation agreement, are two significant milestones in the history of the Malta Freeport.

He added that its brief visit to the Malta Freeport signified the confidence the China Shipping Container Line Company Ltd had in the corporation, the country and the service offered by the Freeport.

The CSCL Asia was built at the Samsung shipbuilding yard in Korea, and is operating the Transpacific service of China Shipping Container Lines. The Hong Kong registered CSCL Asia has a dead-weight tonnage of 99,500 tonnes, a service speed of 25 knots and 700 reefer plugs. The overall length is 334 metres and its width is nearly 43 metres.

The vessel is one of a group of five 8,500 TEU class container ships ordered by China Shipping Container Lines. The rest are to be completed soon.

China Shipping (Malta) Agency Company Ltd was set up earlier this year for the purpose of serving as a CSCL regional office for the Mediterranean with the main task being that of supervising the smooth operation of CSCL containers at the Malta Freeport. The CSCL Asia will be calling at the Malta Freeport on a regular basis.

In a brief speech for the occasion, Chinese ambassador Leo Liu Zhengxin expressed his satisfaction that CSCL is the Malta Freeport’s second largest client. He also spoke about the “excellent” bilateral relations between Malta and China, adding that since the establishment of friendship in 1972, the cooperation in several sectors has increased and improved drastically.

He expressed his hope that China Shipping will continue to promote bilateral relations between the two countries and will continue to use Malta as a hub for Mediterranean and Eastern European countries.