Guinness World Records asks a question: What weighs more than 20,000 tonnes, can carry thousands of tonnes of cargo and is equivalent in length to eight Olympic-size swimming pools?
How stuffs move around the world?
Have you ever wondered how all of our stuff moves around the world and what machine enables the transportation of our wants and needs?
Well need not wonder anymore. There is a marvel of the seas. A steady warhorse which undertakes our global hauling, a feat for which it deserves much celebration and applause!
The Trojan carrier
The container ship has the unglamorous yet essential job of accommodating between 18,000–20,000 containers, meaning one of its standout characteristics is of course its phenomenal size (just a side note – one container can take up to 6,000 pairs of shoes!).
It won’t come as a surprise then when we tell you that the container ship is responsible for the transportation of a staggering 90% of our global cargo!
Currently our largest of these sea bound carriers in terms of its carrying capacity is the OOCL Hong Kong – the Largest container ship (capacity).
This trojan carrier has a beam (width) of 58.80 m (192 ft 10in), a depth of 32.50 m (106 ft 7in) from deck edge to keel, and a ‘displacement’ – which means its fully loaded weight – of 253,104.7 long tons (257,166 tonnes; 283,477 US tonnes)! In total it can carry 21,413 20-ft containers.
LEGO’s Triple E miniature
As these huge haulers show us… anything is possible. In 2014 LEGO created a 1,518 piece reproduction to celebrate Maersk Line’s Triple E. This phenomenon was at the time the world’s Largest ship and – in the interest of scale – the Triple E is more than 600 times larger than LEGO’s miniature recreation.
Build your own ship now!
Perhaps the best way to understand these sea creatures is to build one of your very own!
And if you have been paying close attention there is no reason why you shouldn’t be in with a chance.
Chance to win LEGO container ship
Win the LEGO® container ship from Guinness World Records 2019!
To be in with a chance visit the dedicated container ship page and answer the question on the form.
Entrants from the UK, Ireland and Canada are valid and all entries must be received by 11:59:59 p.m. GMT on Friday 16 November. See full terms and conditions.
Did you subscribe for our daily newsletter?
It’s Free! Click here to Subscribe!
Source: Guinness World Records
