399.99 meters long! The World's Largest Container Ship Completes Docking
On June 7, the world's largest 24,000 TEU class container ship 'COSCO Kawasaki 398' built by Jiangsu Nantong Shipbuilding Enterprises successfully completed docking operation under the guarantee of Nantong Maritime Department.
'COSCO Kawasaki 398' has a length of 399.99 meters, a breadth of 61.30 meters, a depth of 33.20 meters, a deck area larger than three standard soccer fields, a deadweight of 220,000 tons, and a capacity of 24,188 TEU, which is equivalent to the loading capacity of more than 240 trains when fully loaded. This ship type is the new generation of ultra-large container ship type with the largest loading capacity in the world, and also the largest container ship type with the largest container capacity in the navigation of the Yangtze River waterway, which integrates the cutting-edge technology in the field of ship construction today, and is safe, reliable, energy-saving and environmentally friendly with high degree of intelligence, and a number of indexes have reached the world's leading level.
It is reported that since the first 24,000 TEU container ship 'COSCO Kawasaki 335' left the dock on November 15, 2022, a total of five vessels of the same type have been delivered from Nantong in one after another in safe and sound trial voyages, and the 'COSCO Kawasaki 398' that left the dock is also the last in the series of orders. The COSCO Kawasaki 398 is also the last ship in this series of orders.
News Link: Why don't big ships build 400 meters?
Have you ever wondered why the length of this 'giant' ship is 399.99 meters, and why the ship is not constructed with just 0.01 meters to make up 400 meters when it is being built? Is China's current construction technology is limited? Or other reasons?
According to the Jiangsu maritime department staff, international large container ships often shuttle between the major oceans, in order to reduce the voyage and freight, generally in the shipping process will take the shortest distance navigation, so there is a canal, which is most representative of the Suez Canal, which greatly shortens the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean voyage, compared with a detour around the Cape of Good Hope can be shortened by more than 6,000 kilometers! Compared with the route around the Cape of Good Hope, it can shorten the voyage by more than 6,000 kilometers and save 10 to 40 days of sailing time.
Due to the limited length and width of the Suez Canal, in order to prevent blockage of the canal, the canal management implemented a series of rules related to the passage of the canal, one of which is the length of the ship to be less than 400 meters, of course, more than 400 meters of the ship can be passed here, but need to pass a special approval process, which will inevitably delay the shipping time, reducing the efficiency of shipping.
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