According to reports, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding has delivered what is believed to be the world’s largest containership in terms of carrying capacity. The MSC Irina, with a carrying capacity of 24,346 twenty-foot containers (TEUs), was delivered to the MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company by Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding located in Jingjiang city on the Yangtze River.
This ship takes the unofficial title of the world’s container ship and is the first 24,000 TEU class delivery of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding. The MSC Irina is also the first in a series of six ships being built for MSC. The delivery of MSC Irina coincided with the delivery of 24,116-TEU-capacity MSC Tessa, built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation’s (CSSC) Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in Shanghai.
The growing list of 24,000 TEU class ships includes the first-in-class OOCL Spain, with a capacity of 24,118 TEUs, and the 24,005 TEU Ever Alot, which was the first ship to crack the 24,000 TEU mark. MSC Irina is slightly narrower at 61.3 meters in beam, compared to Tessa’s 61.5-meter beam, but shares the same length of 399.99 meters.
With the exception of MSC Irina, all of the ships listed were built by subsidiaries of CSSC, confirming that China, and China state shipyards in particular, are leading the world in the construction of the biggest Ultra-Large Container Vessels.
