Friday Fun Fact #8: The biggest container ships can hold up to 745 million bananas

Hello, everyone! As part of weekly series of fascinating shipping facts, we present to you today our 8th ocean freight fun fact. It’s guaranteed to drive you bananas: The biggest container ships can hold up to 745 million bananas! That’s one for every European and North American!

This shouldn’t come as a big surprise since we already know that the largest ships can cost over $200 million to construct! Here’s a look at the three biggest container ships currently cruising the oceans.

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In July 2015, UASC’s MV Barzan held the honor of the world’s largest container ship. Constructed by South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries, she was the first of six 18,800TEU container ships for the shipping carrier. In fact, she’s so huge that she has a 195,636 gross tonnage and a deadweight of 199,744!

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At the time of launch in November 2014, China Shipping Container Lines’ CSCL Globe was the largest container ship in the world.

With a 19,100TEU maximum capacity for the Globe and her four sister ships, it has got an overall length of 1,312ft (400m)! It’s so huge that it requires a crew of 31 to operate. Plus, at the time of its construction, its 56ft (17m) tall engine was the biggest ever constructed!

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Last but certainly not least, the Mediterranean Shipping Company holding the crown for having the world’s current largest container ships! The four sister megaships MSC Oscar, MSC Zoe, MSC Maya and MSC Sveva are capable of holding up to 19,224TEU!

Even bigger?

But one wonders how long MSC will hold this title. Already, there are rumors that Maersk’s next generation of Triple-E vessels could break the 20,000TEU barrier. [Photo credit: Lappino]

They are currently being constructed in South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering yard and are set to be delivered from April 2017 to May 2018. According to industry analyst Alphaliner, these new vessels may have a “notably higher capacity” than then official 19,630TEU capacity rating.

It can certainly fit a lot more bananas! Perhaps one for every Australian too?

Given these large container ships, it’s no wonder that at any given time, 20 million containers are crossing the seas. But this prompts yet another thought: I wonder how many monkeys the largest container ships can hold…