Top 10 Largest Cargo Ships in the World (2021) and the Impact of the Suez Canal Blockage
Did you know that 90% of global international trade is conducted through water freight vessels? According to the International Chamber of Shipping, there are currently over 50,000 merchant ships operating in the world’s oceans. These ships tirelessly transport goods day and night, traversing vast oceans to facilitate imports and exports.
These vessels, commonly known as container ships or cargo ships, carry thousands of containers and are categorized based on their capacity. The largest among them are the Ultra Large Vessel Container (ULVC) category.
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Here are the top 10 biggest cargo ships in the world as of 2021:
1. HMM Algeciras
It is the largest cargo ship in the world, whose capacity is more than any cargo ship in the world. It carries 24,000 thousand containers at a time. And its length is more than 4 football fields.
Capacity: 24,000 Containers
Length: 399.9 meters long
Width: 61 meters wide
Year: 2020
2. HMM Oslo
This is the second-largest cargo ship in the world, which is just 172 containers less capacity than the world’s largest cargo ship.
Capacity: 23,792 Containers
Length: 400 meters long
Width: 61.50 meters wide
Year: 2020
3. MSC Gulsun
It is the only cargo ship in the world which has the highest width i.e. 62 meters. And 24 containers can be placed side-by-side within this width.
Capacity: 23,756 Containers
Length: 400 meters long
Width: 62 meters wide
Year: 2019
4. MSC Mina
It is also a Gulshan class cargo ship with a capacity of 23,656 containers.
Capacity: 23,656 Containers
Length: 400 meters long
Width: 61 meters wide
Year: 2019
5. CMA CGM Jacques Saadé
This is the world’s largest cargo ship which runs on LNG ie Liquified Natural Gas. And whose height is 78 meters which are as high as a 24-story building.
Capacity: 23,000 Containers
Length: 400 meters long
Width: 61 meters wide
Height: 78 meters
Year: 2020
6. OOCL Hong Kong
Samsung Company not only makes gadgets and home appliances but also makes cargo ships and the name of this firm is Samsung Heavy Industries. This ship has been built by this company. This is the largest product made by Samsung.
Capacity: 21,000 Containers
Length: 399.87 meters long
Width: 58.8 meters wide
Depth: 32.5 meters
Year: 2017
7. COSCO Shipping Universe
It is one of the largest cargo ships in the world which has engines fitted with ABB Turbochargers which makes its speed bigger by 48 km/hour. This speed of cargo ship is the highest than any other cargo ship in the world.
Capacity: 21,237 Containers
Length: 400 meters long
Width: 58.6 meters wide
Year: 2018
8. CMA CGM Antoine De Saint Exupery
The engines of this cargo ship are environment friendly and are of the new generation. Which release the least carbon emissions and are designed keeping in mind the marine biodiversity.
Capacity: 20,954 Containers
Length: 400 meters long
Width: 59 meters wide
Year: 2017
9. Madrid Maersk
You must have seen the containers of Maersk Company somewhere. This ship belongs to the same Maersk Company.
Capacity: 20,568 Containers
Length: 399 meters long
Width: 58.8 meters wide
Year: 2017
10. EverGreen
It is also called Ever Golden. And its capacity is 20,000 containers. But sometimes the ships are too big to cause trouble. Recently the ship was passing through Suez Canal. Then the strong winds made the ship rotate so much that both its ends were stuck in the Suez Canal. As you can see in the photos. Today, on March 28, 2021, the ship has passed 6 days and experts are trying their best to get it out. It is stuck in such a way that neither a cargo ship can go nor move here.
Capacity: 20,000 Containers
Length: 400 meters long
Width: 58.8 meters wide
Year: 2018
The incident involving the EverGreen ship blocking the Suez Canal impacted the main route for cargo ships traveling between Asia and Europe. With thousands of cargo ships passing through daily, the disruption caused significant financial losses. Approximately 120 cargo ships were affected within an hour, resulting in a loss of around $9.6 billion per day. The Suez Canal Authority itself incurred a daily loss of $13 million. Efforts were made to free the vessel, but due to its immense weight and complexity, it only rotated 30 degrees after several days.
We hope for a swift resolution to straighten the ship and resume the normal flow of cargo ships, allowing businesses to recover from the disruptions caused by this incident.
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