Bigger container ships are resulting in much greater peaks in container terminal activity, which together with the ever larger combined volumes of bigger alliances, demands fewer, larger terminals in each port. Terminal operators are reacting by consolidating terminal layouts and ownership – and by working more closely together – but what are the consequences for their customers? Drewry Maritime Research discuss in this extract from their latest 'Container Insight Weekly'. A recent visit to the Eurogate terminal in Hamburg by China Shipping’s post-Panamax vessel CSCL Le Havre involved an exchange of 11,600 teu, illustrating the sheer scale of volumes per call that terminals increasingly have to deal with. The vessel is shared with CMA CGM and UASC.