Now that’s titanic
Docked in UK, ship that’s three times the size of doomed liner
TOWERING above the houses huddled inland, the world’s biggest container ship eased majestically into port yesterday on its maiden visit to Britain.
Crowds gathered to witness the mighty Algeciras – which is more than three times the size of the doomed Titanic – docking at the DP World London Gateway port.
The huge ship measures 400 metres (1,312ft) from bow to stern – more than four times the height of Big Ben (316ft).
Algeciras had travelled from South Korea via China, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium before arriving at the port at Thurrock in Essex. It delivered a variety of imports from South Asia such as household items and supermarket goods.
She is 61m (200ft) wide and has a surface area of 24,400 square metres (862,000 sq ft).
This is vastly bigger than the Titanic, which was 882ft long, 92ft wide and 266,000 sq ft in area.
Algeciras is also longer than the height of the UK’s tallest building, The Shard skyscraper in London (1,017ft), and is almost the same in length as the height of the
Empire State Building (1,453ft) in New York. Preparations began more than six months ago with her arrival modelled on a simulator to ensure it could be carried out safely.
Algeciras will depart on Monday, carrying UK exports on her return journey to China via Singapore.
Peter Livey, managing director of shipping company Hyundai Merchant Marine, which owns the vessel, described its maiden voyage as a ‘major milestone’.
He said: ‘Ships of this size give us the capacity and flexibility to get our customers’ goods to the right place at the right time.’
The ship can carry up to 23,964 shipping containers, each measuring 20ft long, 8ft wide, and 8ft tall.
The size of an individual shipping container is referred to as a TEU, a measurement for calculating cargo ship capacity. DP World London Gateway tweeted: ‘This weekend DPWLG prepares for the arrival of HMM Algeciras. With a capacity of 23,964 TEU, she is the largest container vessel in the world.’
During her journey to the UK the Algeciras – only built this year and registered in Panama – travelled at a maximum speed of 12.9 knots (15mph) and an average speed of 10.9 knots (12.5mph). It has a gross tonnage of 228,283.
The vessel, built by South Korean firm Daewoo Shipbuilding and
Marine Engineering, set out on its maiden voyage in late April.
It broke the world record for the biggest container shipment after it left China carrying 19,621 TEUs – and it was not even loaded to full capacity.
The previous record was 19,574 TEUs, carried by Swiss- owned shipping company MSC’s container vessel Gulsun, last year.
The Algeciras is powered by a vast two-stroke engine measuring 22m (72ft) high, 18m (59ft) wide and weighing 2,230 tons.
‘A major milestone’