World's largest container ship starts maiden voyage

Aerial photo taken on April 26, 2020 shows HMM Algeciras docking at Qingdao Port in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province. [Photo/Xinhua]

HMM Algeciras, the largest container vessel on earth with a TEU (20-foot equivalent unit) capacity of 24,000, started its maiden voyage from the port of Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong province on Sunday.

The ship, measures 399.9 meters long and 61.03 meters in beam and has a deck area of more than 24,000 square meters, about the size of three and a half standard soccer fields, said Zhang Jun, deputy general manager of the Qingdao Qianwan United Container Terminal Co Ltd.

The HMM Algeciras can carry some 200 more containers than the previous largest container ship, Zhang added. When fully loaded, all 24,000 containers, if connected end to end, will reach a total length of 150 kilometers.

---From China Daily