MSC takes delivery of new record containership

Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has taken delivery of the world’s latest record-breaking containership.

The MSC Tessa has a capacity of 24,116 TEUs, stacked up to 25 layers deep.

It was built China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) shipyard Hudong-Zhoghua, in Shanghai.

The total length of the ship is 399.99 metres, more than 60 metres longer than the current largest aircraft carrier in the world, the shipyard said. It is 61.5 metres wide, and the deck area is similar to four standard football fields. It can carry more than 240,000 tons of cargo.

The conventional diesel-engine ship is equipped with a hybrid scrubber desulfurization device, a unique bulbous bow, a large-diameter propeller, and energy-saving ducts, all intended to reduce fuel consumption.

It also employs an air lubrication system, and a shaft generator. Together the shipyard claims the new technologies can reduce energy consumption by three to four percent, and cut carbon emissions, by more than 6,000 tons a year.

Mediterranean Shipping Company ordered four of the 24,116-TEU ultra-large container ships from Hudong-Zhonghua in 2020 in a deal reported to be worth US$600 million. The shipyard said the second ship has completed its trial voyage, and the third and fourth vessels ships are currently under construction. According to the plan, they will be delivered before August this year.

According to Alphaliner, MSC has 131 ships on order that will make up a third of the liner company’s fleet with a total capacity of 1.7 million TEU.