In January it was announced that MSC had launched a new Atlantic Arc container feeder service based on Le Havre, serving Liverpool, Greenock and Dublin. The service started with three vessels, each with a capacity of over 1,600TEU, one of which served Dublin and Greenock, a second going to Liverpool, and the third serving the French Biscay ports.
The Marshall Islands-flagged vessel John Rickmers (2005/21,971gt) serves Dublin, even though she has a draft of 8.1m, a metre more than all the previous feeder vessels that have used the port. The Chinese-built 24,084dwt John Rickmers has a speed of 22.5 knots, can carry 1,850TEU and also has 300 reefer plugs. She was built as John Rickmers before taking the name CMA CGM Everest from January 2006 until December 2011, when she reverted to the name John Rickmers.
In 2012 she was on charter to CMA CGM, but was used on other services. On 7 March she was an unexpected sight at Falmouth after putting in for bunkers during a voyage to Ireland. RC
