Walmart Container Ship
What a ship….no wonder ‘Made in China ‘ is displacing North American made goods big time. This monster transports goods across the Pacific in just 5 days!! Another two will soon be commissioned.
These ships were commissioned by Wal-Mart to get their imported goods from China ….. They hold an incredible 15,000 containers and have a 207 foot deck beam!! The full crew is just 13 people on a ship longer than a US Aircraft Carrier which has a crew of 5,000. With its 207′ beam it is too big to fit through the Panama or Suez Canals ………..
It is strictly transpacific. Cruise speed: 31 knots.
The goods arrive four days before the typical container ship(18-20 knots) on a China-to-California run. 91% of Wal-Mart products are made in China. So this behemoth is hugely competitive even when carrying perishable goods. The ship was built in five sections. The sections are floated together and then welded. The command bridge is higher than a 10-story building and has 11 cargo crane rigs that can operate simultaneously unloading the entire ship in less than two hours.
Additional info:
Country of origin – Denmark
Length – 1,302 ft
Width – 207 ft
Net cargo – 123,200 tons
Engine – 14 cylinders in-line diesel engine (110,000 BHP)
Cruise Speed – 31 knots
Cargo capacity – 15,000 TEU (1 TEU = 20 cubic feet)
Crew – 13 people!
First trip – Sept. 08, 2006
Construction cost – US $145,000,000+
Silicone painting applied to the ship bottom reduces water resistance and saves 317,000 gallons of diesel per year.
A recent documentary in late March, 2010 on the History Channel noted that all of these containers are shipped back to China, EMPTY!
Yep, that’s right. We send nothing back on these ships.
What does that tell you about the current financial state of the west in crisis? So folks, just keep on buying those imported goods (mostly gadgets) until you run out of money. Then you may wonder what the cause of unemployment (maybe even your job) in the U..S, UK, Canada and even in Australia????
A Daily Thought 
My first job out of college back in 1977 was working in the shipping industry. The documentary was kind of misleading because not all of the containers, nor the ships, go back empty. However, if you were to look at the import/export ratio, you could say that because of the disparity, “all” of the containers on any one specific ship go back empty. It totally depends oon the company doing the shipping, the companies that own the containers, and the ships themselves. No container ship likes to be traversing the seas without cargo, so they do everything they can to fill containers and fill ships.
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It’s nuts…but we are fueling it with consumerism and the endless quest for cheaper goods. Small, localised industries and businesses need our support. We are becoming very ‘service’ only here in the UK and that does not lead to sustainability. Good post Judy. 🙂
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Australia is the same Jane unfortunately. We have the best seafood,fruit and vegetables in the world and now we are importing them from Asia. You really have to look in the supermarkets to buy something that is Australian made and our manufacturing industry is nearly finished. cheers Judy 🙂
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WOW! Amazing ship.
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Reblogged this on Sachems word of the day and commented:
WOW! Made in China!
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Yes I used to truck these containers to all the different department stores know these ships well!
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It’s sad really isn’t it? All the little industries that used to employ so many people are now out of business. 🙂
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not really sad more like sickening 😦 If Americans demand it we can once again take back the Power Of It’s People. Make American and Sell American made on our soil that is why all our forefathers came here for a chance to be someone.
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Couldn’t agree more 🙂
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🙂
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Reblogged this on Living and Lovin and commented:
Very big outfit in container ship transportation I used to haul the loads from Boston to points all over the Northeast. Hundreds of trailers a day left the port.
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I have boycotted Walmart for years–since I became aware of their bullying tactics and their exploitation of their workers, particularly women and minorities. But I also object to the preferential treatment our government gives to corporations like Walmart–tax shelters and tax breaks and loop holes–when they are taking jobs out of the country and creating such a trade deficit. This system is broken, and we need to fix it.
Thank you for speaking out.
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Yes it is the same in Australia unfortunately. 🙂
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Excellent, NFT; thank you…
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Glad you liked it Lindy. Nice to hear from you. cheers Judy 🙂
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