Flying High for North Carolina Ports

Fly4Pix was hired to photograph the arrival of the largest ship to call at the Port of Wilmington, the Evergreen Ever Laden. This massive ship docked over the weekend near Downtown Wilmington, and we were there to capture the action from a unique aerial prospective.

This Post-Panamax Vessel navigates into port from the Atlantic Ocean via the Cape Fear River.

As part of its ongoing infrastructure investment plan, North Carolina Ports has completed the expansion project of its turning basin at the Port of Wilmington, allowing ships of this size to call at the Port of Wilmington for the first time.

Tug boats slowly and carefully turn and guide the Evergreen Ever Laden into port.

The ship docks in port to be unloaded.  Inter-modal rail service recently made a return to the North Carolina Ports making deliveries like this possible. Within 1,000 miles of North Carolina’s borders are 170+ million U.S. and Canadian consumers, 65+ of the country’s top 100 metropolitan areas and 60 percent of total U.S. retail sales.

It’s hard to get an idea of the magnitude of ships of this size from photos. The ship is 8,500 TEUs (Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit).  It’s 1,099 feet long and 150 feet wide.  The aerial photo, below, was taken at our legal ceiling – 400 feet in the air – and only shows about 1/3rd of the ship.

The entire rotation and docking process takes about an hour to complete and is an amazing site to see.  With the improvements that North Carolina Ports has made to the riverfront they are expecting to welcome these larger ships to our area more often. Bringing with them jobs and economic development.

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