Leviathan lifts China to a brave new world

THE delivery of China's first self-made 8530TEU vessel over the weekend officially makes China the fourth nation capable of building super large container ships.

The ship, able to carry 8,530 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) of containers, was designed and built over six years by the Shanghai-based Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co with full independent Chinese intellectual property rights.

The hull of the 8530TEU is a massive 335 meters long. The ship is 42.8 meters wide, 24.8 meters deep, can carry 101,000 tons and can sail at 25 knots while being steered by one person, the builder said.

The only other countries capable of building super container ships of this size and capability are South Korea, Japan and Denmark.