But wait, might there be something on the horizon to put those "little" ocean liners to shame, as far as traffic is concerned?
Looky here: The Emma Maersk
This is how Wal-Mart gets all it's stuff from China.Get a load of this ship!
15,000 containers and a 207' beam!
And look at the crew-size: 13 people for a ship longer than a US aircraft carrier which has a crew of 5,000 men and officers.
Think it's big enough?
Notice that 207' beam means it cannot fit through the Panama or Suez Canals. It is strictly transpacific.
Check out the cruise speed: 31 knots means the goods arrive 4 days before the typical container ship (18-20 knots) on a China-to-California run.
So this behemoth is hugely competitive when carrying perishable goods.
This ship was built in five sections. The sections floated together and then welded. The command bridge is higher than a 10-story building and has 11 cargo crane rigs that can operate simultaneously.
Country of origin - Denmark
Length - 1,302 ft
Width - 207 ft
Net cargo - 123,200 tons
Engine - 14 in-line cylinders diesel engine (110,000 BHP)
Cruise Speed - 31 knots
Cargo capacity - 15,000 TEU (1 TEU = 20 ft3)
Crew - 13 people
First Trip - Sept. 08, 2006
Construction cost - US $145,000,000+
Silicone painting applied to the ship bottom reduces water resistance and saves 317,000 gallons of diesel per year
That's a really tall house for just 13 people. I bet they may take a few passengers from port to port.
I hope there will be enough clean fuel burning trucks and railroad engines to transport the containers for this and its sister ships.
They better get started on either double-decking the Vincent Thomas Bridge or building a whole new bridge from Terminal Island to the mainland.
Looks like Piers 300 and 400 will be getting used to their maximum potential as will other terminals throughout the port when more of these container liners call on the Port of L.A.
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