She’s a quarter of a mile long, weighs 186,000 tonnes and is the biggest cargo ship on the seas – and she’s coming to England.
The CSCL Globe, the new holder of the contentious title of world’s largest ship, set out on her maiden voyage from Shanghai on Monday and is scheduled to call at the port of Felixstowe early next month.
Owned by China Shipping Container Lines, the Globe measures 1,312ft from stem to stern – longer than four football pitches – and has a beam of 192ft – wider than each of the runways at Heathrow.
But her crowning glory is the fact she can accommodate 19,100 standard 20ft shipping containers, known in the industry as “TEU”, short for Twenty Foot Equivalent Units.
The Globe is the same length and slightly narrower than the world'sprevious record-holder, Maersk’s Triple-E class of ships. What gives the Globe the edge is that she sits 53ft deep in the water. This means her TEU capacity is higher than the Triple-E’s 18,270 TEU.If all the 20ft containers that the Globe can carry were stacked end to end on top of each other, they would reach 382,000ft into the sky – more than 13 times the height of Mount Everest.
Each TEU the Globe carries can theoretically hold 50,000 clementines, meaning the vessel could potentially carry 955m of the fruits – enough for every person in Europe to have at least one in their stocking on Christmas morning.
The story of China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) starts with the formation of the China Shipping Group (CSG) in Shanghai
CSG is a state owned enterprise employing some 40,000 staff having interests in bulk shipping, tankers, regional container services in Asia and CSCL. Amongst other activities, the Group is involved in container terminals, air freight, freight forwarding, telecommunications and various investment opportunities.
At the beginning of 1999 when the export of manufactured goods from China began to soar, China Shipping Container Lines started its first non-regional service to Australia Europe and a first call at Felixstowe in May; later the same year CSCL started a Trans Pacific service. Through the ten years since then, the fleet has grown to 170 container ships with a capacity of 512,000 teu. The mixed fleet of owned and chartered tonnage is young with the majority of the ships having a capacity in excess of 4,000 teu. Tonnage on order includes eight ships of 13,300 teu capacity.
Although future plans may be tempered in scale by the poor global situation, China Shipping is already operating in over 60 major trades lanes including the important east-west trades. The company ranks as one of the six largest container lines.
In the UK and Ireland UK
Our Asia Europe Express (AEX) services provide six sailings every week to and from the main ports in Asia and excellent connections to out-ports throughout Asia and Australia Southampton . We accept cargo in Grangemouth, Belfast , Dublin and Cork to connect with the main line services at Felixstowe or Rotterdam.
CSCL that the Globe is also capable of carrying 300m tablet computers in a single load.
The Globe is the first of five ships ordered in a $700m contract by the Chinese company from South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries.
Globe berthing in Qingdao port during its maiden voyage
Cargo ships are getting larger as owners seek economies of scale.
When cargo containers first become widespread in the 1950s, most ships could carry fewter than 1,000. However, the soon started growing. Panamax ships – so named because they were the largest that could fit through the Panama Canal – carry almost 5,000 TEU and were common by the 1980s.
Richard CornwellWednesday, January 7, 2015
7:39 AM
7:39 AM
Officials at Britain’s biggest and busiest box port will be rolling out the red carpet tomorrow to welcome the world’s largest containership.
Guests from across the shipping industry and community are being invited to lunch on the quayside and enjoy a VIP trip round the CSCL Globe when she arrives on her first visit to Europe to make her only UK call at the Port of Felixstowe.
A few years back, the port went through a succession of welcomes for vessels billed as the largest on the high seas, each one just a smidge bigger than the last.
But the CSCL Globe is truly huge – a behemoth of the waves, a new class of vessel able to carry a staggering 19,000 standard-sized shipping containers, even more than the Maersk Triple-E fleet.
The China Shipping Container Lines vessel – built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in a shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea, and launched last November – is as big as four football pitches.
Paul Davey, head of corporate affairs at Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited, which owns the Port of Felixstowe, said fully-laden, the 400-metre long CSCL Globe could carry 156 million pairs of shoes, or 300m tablet computers, or 900m tins of beans.
He said: “The cargo will include a huge range of consumer goods including food, drink, clothing, electrical goods and furniture as well as a vast array of other goods destined for the UK high street.
“The arrival of this ship represents a first for the UK.
“It is important economically, the direct call recognises the scale of the UK economy, and economies-of-scale provide the most efficient way to get UK exports to important Asian markets.”
While the vessel’s visit is celebrated tomorrow, it is expected to sail into Harwich Harbour, going alongside at Berths 8&9 after its journey from Port Kelang today at 1pm.
Outclassed: The previous record holder, Maersk's Triple-E class ship
They size of vessels is only really held back by the ability of ports to handle such massive vessels. When Maersk’s Triple-E class came into service last year, there were only 16 ports in the world certified to handle them because the ships stood 20 storeys tall.
Trevor Blakeley, chief executive of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, said: “Ship owners will want them as big as they can be and as long as there is a dock big enough to build them in and enough steel there’s no theoretical limit on the size they can become.
“However, it’s how they are operated that might be a cause for concern. When they get so big you have to load them in a very complex procedure so you don’t damage them during the process.”
Mr Blakeley said that the loading process might become too slow if ships became too big. This could reduce the economic benefits of building even larger ships.
The Globe is designed to be more efficient and environmentally friendly that its predecessors. It has a single 77,250hp engine that consumes 20pc less fuel than a ship about half her size.
But despite ships growing ever bigger, they are also slowing down.
Marc Pauchet, a senior analyst at ACM Shipping, said: “They are not being built to go as fast now. They used to go much faster to deliver their cargos faster. Since the financial crisis they have slowed down – slow steaming means they burn less oil and save money.”
Andrew Jacklin shared Visit Felixstowe's photo.
Please note... if you are coming to see the world's largest container ship - the CSCL Globe arriving at the Port of Felixstowe tomorrow, then we recommend you come early! The official arrival time is 1300. Please park sensibly at the Landguard Peninsula. Alternatively take the FirstGroup route 77 bus from Great Eastern Square, or park and walk from other seafront car parks. Thank you.
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