World's largest container ship Ever Ace leaves Felixstowe

The Ever Ace - built by the Evergreen Marine container shipping firm - left Felixstowe on what was her maiden voyage

A container ship said to be the largest in the world has left a UK port after dropping off thousands of containers.

The Ever Ace docked in Felixstowe, Suffolk, early on Sunday morning on her maiden voyage.

The 400m-long (1,300ft) ship has a capacity for 23,992 standard containers, which is slightly more than similar-sized vessels.

A spokesman for the Port of Felixstowe said 7,000 TEUs (20ft equivalent units) were offloaded from the vessel.

He said a similar number of containers, which were mostly empty, were then loaded on to the ship before it set sail for Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

People gathered at Felixstowe, near Landguard Point and Fort, to see the Ever Ace before it left port

The megaship, operated by the Taiwan-based container shipping company Evergreen Marine, is due to pass through the Suez Canal later this month.

Its sister ship, Ever Given, blocked the channel earlier this year and was stuck in Egypt for almost a week, causing disruption to global shipping, before itself arriving at the Suffolk port last month.

The Ever Ace is the first in a planned series of 12 supersized container ships to be built for Evergreen Marine.

How does Ever Ace measure up?

• Length: 400m (1,300ft)

• Width: 61.5m (202ft)

• Cruising speed: 22.6 knots

• Maximum capacity: 23,992 TEU containers

• Built: 2021

Felixstowe is no stranger to big ships, having welcomed the MSC Gulson two years ago, which is almost identical in size to the Ever Ace but is said to carry 28 fewer containers.

The latest giant arrival docked in Suffolk from Hamburg, having left China in August.

'It's like clockwork'

Brian Ince, from Manchester, said he was thrilled to see the Ever Ace

Brian Ince is on holiday in Suffolk with his wife Elaine and said he wanted to see the Ever Ace "because it's the largest".

The 53-year-old from Manchester said they came on Monday to see the ship "and sat in the car in the drizzle" at Landguard Point in Felixstowe.

He admitted the couple could not "see a great deal" from the beach but did not want to miss it after being unable to come and see the Ever Given.

"It's just the fascination of how the ships are loaded, with the lorries on and off, it's like clockwork," he said.

'It's incredible'

John Self said he cycled to see the Ever Given, but decided to get the bus this time

John Self, from nearby Ipswich, said he came to Felixstowe to see the Ever Given, and returned for the Ever Ace.

"I wanted to see the biggest ship in the world," he said.

The 67-year-old said it was "incredible to see what it does - I'm quite amazed by it".

"I'm not a ship fanatic, I just like seeing interesting things," he added.

'The Ever Ace is fantastic'

Maggie Monk (left) and Barbara Cooper are on holiday in Suffolk and made the trip to Felixstowe to see the Ever Ace

Barbara Cooper, from Northampton, and Maggie Monk, from Milton Keynes, are on holiday at a nearby caravan site.

"When we heard the biggest ship was here we wanted to come down," Ms Cooper said.

Ms Monk said the pair had wanted to see the ship come in, but it was too early in the morning so they thought "it would be nice to see it go"

"I'm not really interested in ships but this one is fantastic. I can't get over the size of it," she said.

But the 68-year-old added it was "a bit chilly" on the beach.