World’s Top 7 Biggest Container Ships In 2021

Last updated on February 14th, 2021 at 07:10 pm

Container ships are the cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. In present times, about 90% of non-bulk cargo worldwide is transported by container ships, and the largest modern container ships can carry over 23,000 TEU.

Container ships’ capacity is measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). A twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) container measures about 20 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 8 feet tall.

The first commercially successful container vessel was “Ideal X” which was converted from a T-2 oil tanker to a container ship and carried 58 containers from Port Newark, New Jersey. Nowadays, the size of the container vessels have grown exponentially due to the rising demand of the cargo around the globe.

Today, we will be looking at a list of world’s Top 7 biggest container ships in 2021 based on their capacity, which is measured in TEU (Twenty-foot equivalent unit).

7. COSCO Shipping Universe

COSCO Shipping Universe is the world’s 7th-biggest container ship with 21237 TEU capacity. It shares the 7th spot with 5 other container ships namely COSCO Shipping Nebula, COSCO Shipping Galaxy, COSCO Shipping Solar, COSCO Shipping Star, COSCO Shipping Planet of Universe class, all built for COSCO Shipping.

The Hong Kong flagged, Universe class container ships have a Length Overall (LoA) of 400.0 m (1312.3 ft), Beam of 58.6 m (192 ft), Draft of 16 m (52ft) and Gross Tonnage of 215,553 GT. The ships were built by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai.

6. OOCL Hong Kong

OOCL Hong Kong stands at number 6 on the list of world’s biggest container ships with 21,413 TEU capacity. It shares the spot with her sister ships, namely, OOCL Germany, OOCL Japan, OOCL United Kingdom, OOCL Scandinavia, and OOCL Indonesia of the G class.

The Hong Kong flagged, G class container ships have a Length Overall (LoA) of 399.9 m (1312 ft), Beam of 58.8 m (193 ft), Draft of 16 m (52ft) and Gross Tonnage of 210,890 GT. The ships were built by Samsung Heavy Industries, Geoje, shipyard. OOCL Hong Kong was once the largest container ship ever built at the time she was delivered in 2017.

5. CMA CGM Jacques Saadé

CMA CGM Jacques Saade takes the 5th spot on this countdown, with 23,112 TEU capacity, sharing the tag of world’s 5th biggest container ship with her 4 active sister ships, namely, CMA CGM Champs Elysees, CMA CGM Palais Royal, CMA CGM Louvre, CMA CGM Rivoli of Jacques Saadé class while other 4 sister ships, namely, CMA CGM Concorde, CMA CGM Sorbonne, CMA CGM Montmartre, and CMA CGM Trocadero are under construction and will be put under active service soon.

The France flagged, Jacques Saadé class container ships have a Length Overall (LoA) of 399.9 m (1312 ft), Beam of 61.3 m (201 ft), Draft of 16 m (52ft) and Gross Tonnage of 236,583 GT. The ships were built by the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) for French shipping company CMA CGM by Jiangnan Shipyard and Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in Shanghai. These container ships are powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

4. MSC Mina

The giant MSC Mina is the 4th biggest container ship in the world with 23,656 TEU capacity. It shares the 4th spot with MSC Isabella, MSC Arina, MSC Nela, MSC Sixin of Gülsün class. 5 more ships of Gülsün class are under construction.

The Panama flagged, Gülsün class container ships have a Length Overall (LoA) of 399.8 m (1312 ft), Beam of 61.0 m (200.1 ft), Draft of 16.5 m (54 ft 2 in) and Gross Tonnage of 228,714 GT. The ships are built by Deawoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.

3. MSC Gülsün

MSC Gülsün bears the title of the World’s 3rd Biggest Container ship of 2021. It has a carrying capacity of 23,756 TEU, beating MSC Mina by just 100 TEUs. It shares the title with MSC Samar, MSC Leni, MSC Mia, MSC Febe, MSC Ambra of Gülsün class.

The Panama flagged, Gülsün class ships have a Length Overall (LoA) of 399.9 m (1312 ft), Beam of 61.5 m (202 ft), Draft of 16.5 m (54 ft 2 in) and Gross Tonnage of 232,618 GT. The ships are built by Samsung Heavy Industries. They were the largest container ships in the world when they were launched.

2. HMM Oslo

HMM Oslo is the world’s 2nd biggest container ship of 2021 with 23,820 TEU capacity, sharing the 2nd position with her sister ships, namely, HMM Rotterdam, HMM Southampton, HMM Stockholm, HMM St Petersburg of Algeciras class.

The Panama flagged, Algeciras class container ships have a Length Overall (LoA) of 399.9 m (1312 ft), Beam of 61.5 m (202 ft), Draft of 16.525 m (54 ft 2.6 in) and Gross Tonnage of 232,311 GT. The ships are built by Samsung Heavy Industries.

1. HMM Algeciras

Finally, the biggest container ship in 2021 is HMM Algeciras with 23,964 TEU capacity, sharing the top spot with her sister ships HMM Copenhagen, HMM Dublin, HMM Gdansk, HMM Hamburg, HMM Helsinki, HMM Le Havre of Algeciras class.

The Panama flagged, Algeciras class container ships have a Length Overall (LoA) of 399.9 m (1312 ft), Beam of 61.0 m (200.1 ft), Draft of 16.525 m (54 ft 2.6 in) and Gross Tonnage of 228,283 GT. The world’s biggest container ships are built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.