TOP TEN: The Largest Capacity Container Ships of the World

Have you ever wondered how the products you use daily have been delivered to you? Very much of the global supply chain is made through maritime transport and that involves some of the largest vessels in the world. From cars, trucks or statues to clothing, seeds, or even the screen you are watching, many everyday products are transported in containers which are loaded on to vessels, crossing oceans and stopping at several maritime ports before they reach its final destination. The following are the largest Container Ships in the World, listed by its capacity of loading based on the “twenty-foot equivalent unit” or TEU in reference to a 20-foot-long intermodal container.

10. MSC Daniela

The number ten of the listing is for the MSC Daniela along with her 8 sisters ordered by Samsung and 4 other cousins from Daewoo. This type of vessel has a capacity of 14000 containers (TEU) with a length of 366 meters can reach a maximum speed of 25.2 knots. MSC Beatrice, MSC Danit, MSC Kalina, MSC Irene or MSC Paloma are some of her sisters and cousins, but MSC Camille has to be the rebel one, as it was involved in a cargo scandal in 2010, in which case was found 1.5 tons of “illegal-imported goods from China to Teesport”. Then in the same year, collided with the Torn Marina, a tanker vessel used to transport liquids such as oil in tanks, fortunately the vessel was empty at the time of the collision.

MSC-Daniela06

Photo from oceanships.de

9. The APL-MOL ships

APL Temasek and MOL Quest occupy the ninth, the ships are part of the same type of vessels built by Hynudai Heavy Industries for the transport companies American President Lines and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (APL – MOL). These vessels can reach up to 14000 TEU of capacity and are 368 meters long.

APL_Temasek

Photo from shipspotting.com

8. Star Class

Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Saturn, Venus and Neptune, yes, we are talking about vessels. These are the names of the vessels part of the Star Class type built for the China Shipping Container Lines. This type of vessel can carry a maximum of 14074 containers (TEU) to a 25 knots of speed, making it the number eight of the listing.

StarCSCL

Photo from fleetmon.com

7. The E Series

The ranking of container ships wouldn’t be possible without mentioning the largest cargo transport company Maersk. The E series are eight container ships built from 2006 to 2008 by the danish business conglomerate A.P. Moller – Maersk Group. Emma, Estelle, Eleonora, Evelyn, Ebba, Elly, Edith and Eugene are the names of the ships spread all over the world, each with a capacity of 15500 TEU. This type of vessel is one of the longest with an overall length of 397.7 meters.

MaerskEMMA

Photo from fleetmon.com

6. The Explorer Class

The french fleet of CMA CGM, called the Explorer Class as they named their containerships with explorers names, such as CMA CGM Chritophe Colomb or CMA CGM Alexander von Humbolt. This vessels carry from 16020 containers (TEU) up to 18000 containers (TEU), being CMA CGM Jules Verne the smallest and CMA CGM Georg Forster the largest.

CMA_CGM

Photo from vistoenforocoches.com

5. MSC New York

The number 5 of the listing goes again to the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) with its vessel MSC New York. This vessel can reach up to 18270 TEU of capacity with an overall length of 399 meters is one of the largest in the world.

MSC_NEW_YORK

Photo from marinetraffic.com

4. The Triple E Series

Once again Maersk is one of the leaders in this listing. The Triple E Series fleet are very large container ships with more than 18000 TEU capacity. They named its fleet of vessels with names starting with the letter m. Majestic Maersk or Magieby Maersk are some of the vessels that are part of this fleet. These are the longest of the list with 400 meters long, that is even longer than the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

majesticMaersk

Photo from shipspotting.com

3. MV Barzan

The number three of the list is the vessel MV Barzan built for the United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) by Hyundai Heavy Industries. They built a total of six vessels of this type. It is common to see them in ports of China, Singapore, Netherlands or Germany carrying up to 18800 containers (TEU).

BARZAN

Photo from worldmaritimenews.com

2. CSLC Globe fleet

The second largest capacity container ships are the CSLC Globe fleet. This type of vessels have the incredible capacity of 19100 containers (TEU) and can also reach 22 knots of speed, is not the fastest but its capacity makes it the second largest. The engine of this vessels are as big as a 6-story building and the ship lenght is the equivalent of 8 Olympic pools This vessels require 31 people as crew to operate, that is more than expected in this type of vessels, which usually are operated by a crew of around 10-12 people.

CSCL_Globe

Photo from hafen-hamburg.de

1. MSC Oscar

Finally the ship that lead this top ten of the largest capacity container ships is the MSC Oscar, also from the Mediterranean Shipping Company, this vessel and its sisters MSC Oliver, MSC Zoe and MSC Maya reach up to 19224 TEU of capacity, that is only 124 containers over its second rival CSLC Globe. Even though is not the longest, it has a length of 395 meters but is fast, it reach a maximum speed of 25 knots. Usually covers the route from Busan, South Korea to Bremerhaven, Germany, stoping at ports such as Shanghai in China, Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia or Algeciras in Spain.

Photo from itv.com