Inside the World's Biggest Container Ship Ever Built! NEXT MAX #ship
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Imagine a vessel so immense that it rivals the size of the largest creatures on Earth, the blue whales. The MSC Irina, the world’s biggest container ship currently, is longer than 10 blue whales combined and dwarfs nearly everything in its path, as well as is capable of carrying an astonishing number of containers. This “behemoth of the seas” not only signifies human engineering prowess but also raises intriguing questions about the intricacies of its design and operation. So what technology will be inside this giant container ship to help it move across the vast ocean? And what is life like for the crew onboard? Let’s find out the answer in today’s episode of Next Max!
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Inside the World's Biggest Container Ship Ever Built!
Regarding dimensions, the MSC Irina and all its sister ships are 1,312 feet long, 201 feet wide, and have a draft of 48 feet. The draft refers to the portion of the ship that is submerged in water. The deadweight tonnage is the weight of the ship without cargo. For the MSC Irina, its weight is over 240,000 tons, much more than US aircraft carriers which displace around 100,000 tons. However, the most evident indicator of Irina's massive size is its container capacity. In the shipping industry, a standard container is 20 feet long, and the capacity of a ship is measured in Twenty-foot Equivalent Units. The MSC Irina and its sister ships can carry an impressive 24,346 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units.
However, given its substantial cargo, the MSC Irina employs some innovative technologies to enhance its transit. One such technology is air lubrication along its hull. Typically, water resistance against the hull slows a ship down. To counter this, Irina uses a proven technique to glide more efficiently through the water. Large nozzles on its hull release air bubbles along its length, creating a barrier between the hull and the water. Since air offers less resistance than water, this allows the ship to move slightly faster.
Another intriguing technology utilized by this massive container ship is known as shaft generators. Unlike traditional generators that burn fuel to power an engine which then turns a shaft within a magnetic field to produce electricity, shaft generators harness the energy already produced by the main engines. When the engine generates power to turn the propeller, a shaft generator takes advantage of the shaft's rotation to generate electrical energy. This allows the ship to reduce fuel consumption to generate electricity and produce more power for the various onboard systems that need it.
