What a ship....no wonder 'Made in China ' is displacing North American made
goods big time.

This monster transports goods across the Pacific in just 5 days!! This is one of
three ships presently in service, with another two ships commissioned to be
completed in 2012.

These ships were commissioned by Wal-Mart to get all their goods and stuff from
China . They hold an incredible 15,000 containers and have a 207 foot deck
beam!! The full crew is just 13 people on a ship longer than a US Aircraft
Carrier (which has a crew of 5,000)

With it's 207' beam it is too big to fit through the Panama or Suez Canals .
It is strictly transpacific. Cruise speed: 31 knots.

The goods arrive 4 days before the typical container ship (18-20 knots) on
a China -to- California run. 91% of Walmart products are made in China .

So this behemoth is hugely competitive even when carrying perishable goods.

The command bridge is higher than a 10-story building and has 11 cargo crane
rigs that can operate simultaneously unloading the entire ship in less than two
hours.

Editorial Comment!
A recent documentary in late March, 2010 on the History Channel noted that
all of these containers are shipped back to China , EMPTY. Yep, that's right.
We send nothing back on these ships. What does that tell you about the current
financial state of this country? Just keep buying those imported goods (mostly
gadgets) until you run out of money.



Additional info:

Country of origin - Denmark
Length - 1,302 ft
Width - 207 ft
Net cargo - 123,200 tons
Engine - 14 cylinders in-line diesel engine (110,000 BHP)
Cruise Speed - 31 knots
Cargo capacity - 15,000 TEU (1 TEU = 20 cubic feet)
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.

--

Richard Lamb