ULCS

An ultra-large container ship (ULCS) is a container vessel above roughly 18,000 TEU, the class that emerged after the 2013 Triple-E ships and now runs to the around 24,000-TEU HMM Algeciras and MSC Irina classes. These ships are beam-constrained, 24 containers wide, and call only at deepwater hub terminals with the quay length, air draft, and ship-to-shore crane outreach to work them. Their economies of scale per slot are real but concentrate cargo, stressing port capacity and feeder networks at each hub.