World's largest container vessel launches maiden voyage

SHANGHAI - CSCL (China Shipping Container Lines Co Ltd) Globe, the world's largest container vessel, started its maiden voyage to Europe on Monday in Shanghai.

The CSCL Globe is the first of a series of five 19,100-TEU (Twenty-feet Equivalent Unit) container ships ordered by CSCL in 2013. It was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in the Republic of Korea.

The vessel is 400 meters long and 60 meters wide and travels at a speed of 43 km per hour. Its loading capacity exceeds Maersk Line's 18,000-TEU as the world's largest container vessel.

The vessel, which can carry about 200 million tablet computers at a time, has been dubbed the "A380 of the shipping industry."

Compared with ordinary 10,000-TEU container ships, it can save about 20 percent in energy consumption and reduce 30,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.

CSCL, affiliated with the China Shipping Group, is a global container liner service provider. Founded in 1997, the Shanghai-based company is listed both in Hong Kong and Shanghai.