Chinese shipyard delivers another gigantic container vessel

A 20,000 TEU container vessel was delivered by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (SWS) to COSCO SHIPPING Lines Co., Ltd after a naming ceremony on May 29.

It was the third mega ship delivered by the SWS this month, following two 40,000-ton Very Large Ore Carriers (VLOC).

The vessel has a length of nearly 400 meters and a width of 58.6 meters. With a maximum draft of 16 meters, the vessel can sail as fast as 22.5 sea miles per hour and load up to 200,000 tons. The area of the vessel’s deck is four times the size of a standard soccer field.

However, the ship's gigantic size is not at the sacrifice of its economic efficiency. The vessel is equipped with large-diameter and highly efficient propellers, as well as a full balance, energy-saving rudder, actually lowering energy consumption during operation.

So far, a total of 79 vessels above 19,000 TEU have entered operation in the world, and 58 more have been ordered. China received 17 of these orders, accounting for 30 percent of the global share.