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29/02/2008

Container ships race to gigantism

Philip Plisson's photo report : Container ships, race to gigantism !

The world's fleet of container ships has increased tenfold in the last 20 years.. The trend towards gigantism is a response to the massive growth worldwide in sea traffic. In 10 years, the size of the ships has doubled. As a consequence, existing harbours are enlarged or new ones are built. 400 metre-long ships - with a capacity of 10,000 containers - need bigger gates in Panama...

European ship-owners, who were the first to invest in giant container ships are the leaders of maritime freight. Maersk (danish) world leader, is building a 470-metre long container ship - with a capacity of 15,000 containers - in the Samsung shipyard in Korea... Thus a new structure is needed to build this huge ship. The French CMA CGM company comes third, owning 336 ships and 72 container ships being ordered.