China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) delivered the world's largest dual-fuel container ship with a capacity of 24,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in Shanghai on Tuesday. The vessel will be deployed on the Far East to Europe shipping route.
Nicknamed "Super Cargo King of the Sea," the newly delivered ship is capable of carrying 220,000 tons of cargo, with its 24,000 containers stacked as high as a 25-story building. The ship is powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), and the green fuel could sustain a cruising range of nearly 20,000 nautical miles on a single voyage.
"This ship is the most advanced in the world. Its key feature is that it's powered by liquefied natural gas, which is cleaner and more environment friendly. And its container capacity is the largest in the world, significantly enhancing the shipping efficiency and economic viability," said Wang Jiaying, head of marketing at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of CSSC.
China has kept setting new records in container ship construction, with capacities increasing from 21,000 TEUs to 23,000 TEUs, and now to 24,000 TEUs. While the ships are getting larger, their construction time has become shorter, demonstrating China's shipbuilding capabilities.
"We have made some breakthroughs in shipbuilding through technological renovation. From the start of construction to the ship's launch at the dock, the cycle has been shortened to just four to five months. Compared with previous construction cycles, this is a significant improvement. In fact, the delivery of this ship was more than six months ahead of schedule. Our control over the construction cycle is now at a first-class level in the global shipbuilding industry," said Liu Xuedong, vice president of Changxing Shipbuilding at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding.
World's largest dual-fuel container ship delivered
