After mentioning the world’s largest container ships, it’s time to take a look at the world’s largest cargo ships.
A cargo ship is any type of vessel that carries cargo in bulk or packaged form. These vessels include bulk carriers, container ships, oil tankers, LPG tankers, etc. After having talked about the world’s largest containers, it’s time to mention the world’s largest cargo ships.
MSC Gülsün and her twin sisters
Launched in 2019, MSC Gülsün is currently the largest cargo ship in the world. Operated by Mediterranean Shipping Company, the Panama-flagged ship is the first of 11 sister vessels constructed by Samsung Heavy Industries and DSME in South Korea.
MSC Gülsün is almost 61.4 meters (203ft) wide and 400 meters (1312ft) long. The 232,000 gross ton ship has a draft of 16 meters. Thanks to its cargo system designed by MacGregor International AB, the ship has a capacity of 23,756 containers (23,756 TEU) in rows of 24 across.
MSC Gülsün transited the Suez Canal for the first time on August 9, 2019.
5 of her sisters, MSC Samar, MSC Leni, MSC Mia, MSC Febe, and MSC Ambra has the same specifics of MSC Gülsün, while 5 others, MSC Mina, MSC Isabella, MSC Arina, MSC Nela, and MSC Sixin are only 10 cm shorter and they only lack 100 in maximum TEU.
OOCL Hong Kong and her twin sisters
With a carrying capacity of 21,413 TEU, OOCL Hong Kong was the largest cargo ship in the world until MSC Gülsün entered the game. Actually, she was the largest container ever constructed!
When she was built in 2017 by the Samsung Heavy Industries, she became the third container ship to surpass the 20,000 TEU. She’s 399.87 meters long and has a breadth of 58.8 meters and a depth of 32.5 meters. As the leading ship of the G-Class, OOCL Hong Kong can also carry 14,904 cubic meters of fuel.
OOCL Hong Kong has 5 twin sisters: OOCL Germany, OOCL Japan, OOCL United Kingdom, OOCL Scandinavia, OOCL Indonesia with the exact same specifics. All these sister ships serve the route from East Asia to Northern Europe (Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Yantian, Singapore, via Suez Canal, Felixstowe, Rotterdam, Gdansk) and (Wilhelmshaven, Felixstowe, via Suez Canal, Singapore, Yantian, Shanghai) in a 77-day round trip.
COSCO Shipping Universe and her twin sisters
COSCO Shipping Universe was built it 2018 by the China State Shipbuilding Corporation for China Ocean Shipping Company Limited. Registered and sailing under the flag of Hong Kong with a carrying capacity of 21,237 TEU, she is famous for being the largest cargo ship in China
COSCO Shipping Universe is 400 meters long, 58.6 meters wide and has a maximum speed of 22 knots. With a deadweight of 199,000 MT, she is among the flagship vessels of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
COSCO Shipping Universe has 5 twin sisters: COSCO Shipping Nebula, COSCO Shipping Galaxy, COSCO Shipping Solar, COSCO Shipping Star, and COSCO Shipping Planet. They all have the same specifics.
CMA CGM Antoine De Saint Exupery and her twin sisters
CMA CGM Antoine De Saint Exupery is named after the French author Antoine de Saint Exupery, who wrote the famous book, Little Prince. She is the largest container ship to sail under the French flag and also the largest Europe-based ship.
Built in 2017 by Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction for the French shipping company CMA CGM, CMA CGM Antoine De Saint Exupery is 400 meters long and 59 meters wide and has a dead-weight of 202684 MT.
CMA CGM Antoine De Saint Exupery has two twin sisters: CMA CGM Jean Mermoz, and CMA CGM Louis Bleriot. These environment-friendly vessels’ new generation engines reduce their oil consumption by up to 25% and their carbon-di-oxide emission by up to 4%.
Madrid Maersk and her twin sisters
There are a total number of 11 second-generation Maersk Triple E-class cargo ships and Madrid Maersk is the first and the most famous of them. These ships were built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Shipyard for Maersk Line in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
During her launch in 2017, Madrid Maersk became the second 20,000 TEU-class container ship ever (with 20,568 TEU). With a deadweight Tonnage of 192,672MT, these ships measure 399 meters in length and 58.8 meters in breadth.
