The biggest ship in the world to carry the UK flag has arrived at the port of Southampton.

CMA CGM Kerguelen, which can carry up to 17,722 teu containers, will make her first, and only, UK call at DP World Southampton’s container terminal in the Western Docks on her maiden voyage which began when she left Shanghai, Hong Kong, last month.

CMA CGM Kerguelen rivals some of the world’s biggest ships at 398 m long and 54 m wide and is the first of a series of six vessels of the same size set for delivery this year.

Deployed on the route linking Europe to Asia, CMA CGM Kerguelen calls in 11 countries and has the capacity to transport almost 200,000 tons of goods from clothes and televisions to sofas and washing machines.

CMA CGM Kerguelen will use Southampton’s brand new deep water berth, SCT 5, which was specifically built and commissioned with four brand new super‐post panamax cranes, to accommodate these ultra large container ships.

More than £100 million has been invested by Associated British Ports to ensure that Southampton can continue to stay at the forefront of the UK container market.