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Rotterdam marks 50 years as leading container port

The Port of Rotterdam has this week celebrated 50 years since the arrival of its first container ship.

Rotterdam became Europe’s first, and from the start largest, container port on 3 May 1966, when the MS Fairland arrived with 226 containers on board.

From that moment on, the Sea-Land Shipping Company has been maintaining a weekly container service between New York and the West European ports of Rotterdam, Bremen and Grangemouth. The golden jubilee was marked with a moment of ceremony and reflection on board the UASC Al Zubura, one of the largest container ships in the world, moored in front of the Euromax terminal of ECT, the container transhipment company that was founded after the arrival of the MS Fairland to handle the containers and to respond to this development.