China's Biggest Container Ship Begins Maiden NavigationChina's biggest container ship, with a capacity of 5,500 TEUs, set sail Sunday for America from the Shanghai harbor.This is the maiden sailing of the container ship, which belongs to the Shanghai-based Zhonghai Group. The ship will sail on the Far East-American navigation route. At present, there are more than 400 container ships which can hold over 3,000 TEUs in the world, 35 percent of them have a capacity of over 4,500 TEUs, according to sources. Fifty-eight of the 167 ships to be built in 2001 in the world will have a capacity of over 5,000 TEUs. Experts predicted that in the first 10 years of the next century, container ships with a capacity of over 5,000 TEUs will constitute a major part of global transportation on sea. The Container Company of the Zhonghai Group now has 103 ships, with a combined capacity of 120,000 containers. The company has opened 40 navigation routes at home and abroad. |
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