Largest cargo ship ever to berth at Piraeus

The "MSC London", which was built in 2014, is 399 metres long, with a gross tonnage of 165,000 tons and capacity to carry up to 16,500 containers.

The welcoming committee also included Piraeus Port Authority President George Anomeritis, the head of the coast guard and the head of MSC Greece Christina Theodorika, whose company owns the vessel.

A record number of containers were processed in July at Terminal 1, which is run by the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP), it emerged on Monday.

A total of 50,517 containers were handled, which is the most during a single month in OLP’s history. Management also revealed that productivity at Terminal 1 has increased by about 40 percent since 2009, with 161 containers now being processed each shift rather than 115

" The port of Piraeus has the infrastructure to receive even the largest container vessels and capabilities lacking in other Mediterranean ports, including those of Italy", Varvitsiotis said.

"We want to make Piraeus a major transit centre. That is the reason why we have proceeded with an agreement with COSCO to extend the agreement we now have and hope to soon start works [budgeted at] 230 million euros," he added.