The China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC ) has delivered the MSC Tessa megaship to the Mediterranean Shipping Company. With a deck covering an area of about four football fields, the ship can carry up to 24,116 containers at a time, stacked up to 26 deep.
With a length of just under 400 metres and a width of 61.5 metres, the MSC Tessa can handle more than 240,000 tonnes of cargo. It is the first ship to break this barrier and the first vessel capable of carrying more than 24,000 containers at a time.
Interestingly, the ship is virtually identical in length and width to dozens, perhaps hundreds, of previous record holders. For example, the model is reminiscent of Maersk's 2011 Triple-E container ship. Similarly, its successors -the MSC Irina or MSC Loreto, both of which are on order from the same client- will carry a few hundred more containers but won't be physically larger either.
MSC Tessa is focused on efficiency - and it has to be with the aforementioned numbers. The key innovation in this respect is a bubble-based air lubrication system, which CSSC says reduces energy consumption and therefore emissions by 4%. However, it remains a marine diesel and we are unlikely to see emission-free ships of this size any time soon.
MSC expects to take delivery of three more like the MSC Tessa by August. The four ships reportedly cost MSC a total of about $600 million.
See the MSC Tessa in action (and under construction) in the video below
