Massive container ship docks in Dalian

The MSC Nicola Mastro, one of the world's largest 24,100 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) ultra-large container ships, docked on Saturday at the Dalian Port container terminal in Jinpu New Area of Dalian, Liaoning province.

Dalian Port, which is part of Liaoning Port Group, with its deep water and array of services, has become an international transit destination for large-scale vessels.

The Nicola Mastro, which can carry 24,116 containers, was officially delivered in Shanghai on June 15.

It is 400 meters long, 61.5 meters wide and 33.2 meters deep, with a deck area of nearly four standard soccer pitches and a maximum stack height of 25 layers of containers, equivalent to the height of a 22-story building.

Sources from the port said the ship will carry chemical products, mechanical and electrical equipment and other goods from inland enterprises and will sail to major European ports via Middle Eastern countries.