Why are No Ultra Large Container Vessels Sailing to the United States
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- čas přidán 20. 06. 2024
- Why No Ships to the USA?
What's Going on With Shipping?
Feb. 1, 2024
In this episode, Sal Mercogliano - maritime historian at Campbell University (@campbelledu) and former merchant mariner - discussed the reason why no Ultra Large Container Vessels (ships capable of carrying more than 16,000 TEUs - Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units) are sailing to the United States.
#supplychain #shipping #containerships
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Twitter: @mercoglianos
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Email: mercoglianosal@gmail.com
00:00 Introduction
00:53 Where in the are all the World's containerships?
04:17 What are Ultra Large Container Vessels?
10:32 Why No ULCV in the US?
14:32 Conclusions
Marine Traffic
www.marinetraffic.com
Evolution of Containerships
transportgeography.org/conten...
List of largest container ships
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
Rotterdam had the same problem many years ago. They made new land out of the city at the coast and built a totally new port.
I have watched a fair few CZcams videos about US infrastructure spending/building and it seems that the USA are really anti-infrastructure spending (unless its about cars) -
That is because most of those doing such videos have no understanding of even the basic difference between expanding and simply maintaining infrastructure.
@@joetrey215 LOLOLOLOL @YOU!!!!!! US infrastructure policy is a JOKE!!!!!!!!
Just compare their pasanger rail vs Europe
@@Adi-bo5dohave you looked at the pasanger rail in the US vs Europe.
Or even all rail?
The US is even in rail severely lacking
@@patricktho6546typical European response- no clue that the US is HUGE, we have a lot of RR mileage which is predominantly used for freight trains. We do not have an extensive passenger network BECAUSE UNLIKE EUROPE our cities (outside of on the coasts) are far apart with low density population in between AND we have an extensive interstate highway system that connects the cities. It’s pure & simple economics- not enough riders btw say Denver & Kansas City to justify the cost of passenger rail. Passenger rail makes sense on the coasts where the population is denser (northeast, California/ Oregon/ Washington) but in the 1000s of miles in between the coasts there just isn’t enough population density to justify the costs
I didn’t know anything about shipping, and now that I’ve watched your one video I feel like I do. Thank you.
Glad I could help!
There are apps that will show you marine traffic in real time. You would be amazed how many ships are out there
This is me lmao
and what will you do with that knowledge?
@@nicolasbouyiouclis4726 it's just knowledge. Most people have no idea how many ships are out there in transit to ports all over the world. If you don't learn things as you go along in life you might as well be brain dead.
This brought back memories . In 1957 on a British vessel docked at Newark NJ , saw my first container ship . No bigger then my own , big difference we were berthed for days , whereas the container ship for hours.
No need to be a genius to see where the future lay .
But there is always a downside . I visited ports across the globe , some with a single berth . Great experience , enormous fun , including logging towns along the west coast of Canada.
What the containers do if shift some operations away from the harbors and piers. The containers have to be packed and unpacked and the contents examined by border control and customs officials.
Virginia has created a large facility in a rural part of the tax tagged an "Inland Port." Container ships can be loaded directly on trains and the customs and security examinations conducted "in the middle of nowhere." Moreover, the "Inland Port" can have "free trade zones" where manufacturing facilities can be set up.
Thank you for your telescope, sir 🫡
When I was designing containerships in late 90s, 5000 TEU was pretty much biggest and 8kTEU was a research project
Sir, what are the Gross Tonnage comparisons between the ships you designed, and, some of these behemoth Ships these days that are quadruple the size, it seems?
@@colinsdad1 gross tonnage irrelevant, I don't even remember. Only had to calculate for purposes of paperwork so that ships could pay canal tariffs. I worked on projects between 2000 and 5000 TEU, including the CV2600 and CV2900. Now you see as high as 24000 so 9 times larger than a panamax 2900 TEU that is about 200m LBP and 32,2 breadth
@@vibratingstring I was just curious as to what the tonnage was, unloaded and loaded- I figured you would be the person to ask. Thank you for your response.
@@vibratingstring The 24000 TEU ships are 400 meters long, with 24 bays mostly 24 containers wide. I believe they're stacking 22 high, lid in between.
@@colinsdad1 Gross Tonnage is a volume not a weight. You are actually asking about deadweight tonnage. We were at around 14 to 18 tonnes per 40' container at plimsoll (this is from my hazy memory). So 20-26000 cargo DWT tonnes. Total deadweight with fuel, stores, provisions, spares, oil etc was over 30,000 t. The CV2500/2600/2900 (one of them, can't remember!) was 12000 tonnes Lightship weight. The steelweight was over 7000 tonnes, machinery etc the rest. I only remember that because I did the calculations to convert to ABS class from DNV. To build under ABS survey required about 450 tonnes more steel structure!
Great job Sal. I have sailed all those route for 45 years. Your insight is spot on.
Do you think it would be hard to get a job on one of those ships?
@@dblythe5958 depends on the job....
This video was randomly recommended for me. It is a really informative and interesting video. Speaker is clear and easy to understand and follow.
Stumbled on your channel
Never though I’d find container ships so interesting!
Used to live near-and work in Long Bech, CA😊
Knew a few longshore people -watched the ships there
But never gave much thought to the route, etc
It’s FASCINATING!
Thank you 🙏
I remember some years ago the Port of Auckland needed new cranes to accept newer larger container ships. 3 were loaded on a ship in Japan and brought here fully assembled. It was pretty cool watching the cranes come into the harbour standing on the deck of a ship.
Who was the buyer of the cranes? Who paid for its installation?
@@grdnzrnic I don't know, but the ports of Auckland are fully owned by what was the Auckland city Council at the time, so it was probably the Auckland city Council.
@@kaymish6178 The billionaires did not have enough money to pay thier own way.
I suspected there was an error in your comment. The cranes were in fact Chinese. Welcome to your new overlord. China manufactures and more importantly, controls and/or operates the huge majority of container cranes in ports throughout the world.
@@chriskortan1530 Yeah I think they were Chinese and he's correct, watching them come up the harbour was unbelivable and then one realised that they had come like that all the way from China. Absolutely Amazing to comprehend and see.
Here in Jamaica i am working as a stevedore, i have worked on ships that are at least 13 containers up from hatch cover and like 21 containers across.
Wauwatosa!!! Huge
Greetings gs from land locked Nebraska. 17:17
I once had a conversation on the quay somewhere, maybe it was in Honolulu, and the older guy told me a story that the big walking fighting machines in one of the Star Wars movies were inspired by container unloading cranes! Lucas saw them and said in some fashion, "wow that's cool, maybe I can make something outta that."
7-10 high and 19 across in LA/LB
That’s gotta be very intimidating? And hello from Chicago Illinois. I don’t know how you guys do it. But I’m very appreciative and respectful of your time.
Fascinating! I have never really thought about shipping - only when there’s an issue that makes news - so I’m thrilled that this ended up on my CZcams feed. Thank you for the education!! I’m much more aware now.
Stumbled across this channel..watched a couple of the presentations and I’m hooked!! Who knew shipping could be this interesting!! Thank you !!!!
What a great CZcams channel. You are well-spoken and informed. Thanks
Chaos will lead to closer supply chain routes. Time to adopt is now. Thanks Sal. We need these ideas to help secure our future.
The U.S. will implode
Expect a messy divorce from China.
Maybe the future is not importing so much stuff from all around the world?
Maybe the future is not to help countries who commit genocide
@@qh5163 If only the West had done that before Iraq, thousands of US/UK soldiers would still be alive.
I really like industry specific channels with localized knowledge that aren't afraid to put detailed information out there for outsiders! I'm really happy i found your channel!
Bless you man, we need more people like you in the world. Just doing what we do because it the good thing to do. And while this is going to solve all the worlds problems, people like me and some friends thank you dearly. Be content and upmost sincereness THANK YOU for your hard work and kind heart. Fare thee well!!!
3 Feb 2024 , in Indiana :
I watched all of this presentation .
Thank you for it .
When we visited Hamburg we went to see the shipyard and although I thought it was really cool, I hadn't realized what a big deal it was until viewing your video! Thanks!
Saaaaaal Mercaaaaaaaaagliano! Thanks for all you do to bring us this analysis.
Awesome Reporting!! Thanks For Sharing
Thanks for the lecture! The shipping industry is complex!
Cosco is building Chancay port in Perú, north of Lima to serve this ships. They own 60% of the port and a private mining company owns the other 40%. Natural depth is like 19 meters in that new port.
Great video! I did not expect to watch a video on shipping this morning, lol. Feel like I was educated:) loved the pictures and maps. Some of the ships are huge, had no idea that big! Thank you
Glad to have found your channel Sal.
Jacksonville Florida can do 38 foot draft. Some docks it's 36-38 feet but the main channels for ships is 38 foot. To maintain that draft at your dock, some terminals will dredge every 3-4 months due to the muddy silt on the bottom of the St Johns River. I know a terminal who bought shore cranes for this purpose realizing the investment in your maximum draft on your dock helps your business. Sadly the big terminals don't care, they're always looking for somebody to pay the bill for them
Who owns the big terminals?
@@grdnzrnic that will depend on which port(s) you are referring to, they could be owned and/or operated locally or by some international companies.
Dubai Port Authority DBA DPWorld & Global Container Terminals (GCT) are 2 of the largest port operators, many shipping lines also owned and operated ports/terminals all over the world.
And NO bridges on that short bit of river from the Atlantic!
@@kennycheung1743 In 2006 DP World gave up on U.S. terminals
State-owned Dubai Ports World announced it plans to sell the U.S. facilities to an American company.
Two days after buying a British port management firm for $6.8 billion, the government of Dubai bowed to political reality and gave up plans to operate the U.S. portion of the business. Potential buyers quietly considered making an offer for two dozen terminals and cargo handling operations on the East and Gulf coasts.
The North American operation only accounted for 6 percent to 10 percent of P&O’s business, and has an estimated value between $500 million to $700 million based on the $6.8 billion price DP World paid for the company. Many analysts say that DP World overpaid for the company by 20 percent in its bidding war with Singapore-owned PSA Corp.
Westside 103✋🏻✋🏻
Wow -- haven't shipped as a freight forwarder for thirty years. Guess it's a whole new world. Glad I found your channel
My husband was a container truck driver starting 2020 or so. About a year and a few months ago. The ships started sitting. Not a lot of containers to be picked up. A lot of owner operators switched to long haul. That is even tough right now.
I loved this video! I didn't know very much of any of this. And you made it very easy to understand. Thank you very much!
Fantastic, informative, and concise report that's easy for us non-mariners to understand. 👍
Not concise.
@@4423422you're absolutely correct.
Here in Savannah GA they just installed the largest cranes in the US for larger ships. But now they must raise the bridge over the Savannah river for the new ships. They just built that bridge now long ago.
Sir this video taught me so much more than a cruise through the Panama Canal. This is important news and information. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
I'm a land lubber. Why do I love this stuff since discovering it all just a couple of months ago ?
Think it's because it's a 'weather vane' for what is going on in the world in real time and not through a MSM lens.
The bigger the size the larger the ports and the larger the needed investment. In a world where those ports may become unusable due to changing conditions that’s a big risk.
All of the available space is used up in San Pedro / Long Beach.
When it was Navy base those ships were nested. Except for the New Jersey. Also the port was dredged for the New Jersey to fit.
The navy always seemed to find money for things like that.
The new owners just don't want to spend the money.
I guess the plan is get the US government to spend money on that. I don't think California cares.
Hence more inland-based ports are being made to move the containers off the coast faster, even happening in New Zealand where I live as we are getting bigger ships now - not quite the behemoths shown but significantly bigger than early 2010's
@@RamonInNZ -- On topic but different location: I lived at the now closed USAF base of Lajes Field on Terecira Island in the Azores. At that time the American port was Piaia (Cuidad Do Heroismo de Praia). I was last there visiting in 2016. The Portugese were building a container port there. Although in the middle of the Atlantic, the idea is to have ships drop containers there for sorting and then loaded onto ships going to specific ports. That way routing through several or many ports could be avoided and a ship with a load of containers going to one port could be utilized for greater efficiency. As the number of containers being shipped grows, I think this idea has merit.
On the Bab el Mandel issue , in Australia we have live cattle ships which are stuck in port
their destination is the middle East past Suez or Saudi Arabia going around by the Cape route is simply impractical
they are going nowhere now
This is excellent Sal, I learnt a lot. Looking forward to more great insight from you!
Absolutely fascinating. Thank you for putting this together and sharing it.
The Columbia river has been dredged 3 feet up to Portland from what used to be 40 not too long ago. About last spring icwas delivering a propeller to a Tug company on the River and got to see up close the largest container ship to enter the river up to that time. It was massive.
I would expect to see development along Puget Sound and Washington/Oregon coast. Design/build a proper port and tie into railroads to ship the containers out.
@@WACATX767882 Port facilities have been in Portland since World War 2. The only hindrance is the river depth which in my lifetime has went from 38 then to 40 and now 43. The Vigor Drydock is the largest in the Western Americas. It handles all the massive Cruise ships for the entire West Coast as well as some from the Gulf since the USS Texas has been in drydock.
I can't believe how many ships are out there sailing in any given time!!
Same. I had no idea.
Flightradar 24 gives you the idea how many planes ✈️ are flying around 👍
Thank you for this very interesting report. It is never explained elsewhere.
Glad you enjoyed it
Thanks for covering this, it was very informative!
Thank you brother, I bow to your patch!
Great report as always
Thanks Sal
I've just come across your Channel due to the Delaware container ship accident.
Thank you, this video is so interesting & informative. My grandfather on my father's side was an Extra Master sailing coal ships from China, between the Wars, so I'm interested in the mercantile marine. 👍🙂
Thanks for sharing your…vast knowledge
My only personal experience with (tiny,it seems ) container ships was the barge that washed up on our beach at English Bay/ Sunset Beach in Vancouver British Columbia but watching those phases of removal was interesting.. it sat there so long they put up a sign, calling it Barge Chillin Beach.
Couple of things Dr. Sal: First, I don't get to hit CZcams until after nightfall when all of the chores are done (usually after 5PM in the winter) and by then I've switched from coffee to bourbon, so please don't be reckless with the name of the strait-that-cannot-be-named, or I might not make it to bed.
Also, can you possibly give a talk about booking passage on a container ship?
Ja Bouti (sp) is the one I shout out! If I was still drinking I would be taking shots on that one!
My dad took passage on a large ship (years ago). He was in the navy, so he loved it. I think it was 90 days to Australia?
@@lloydprunier4415Every time I hear “Djibouti”, I chuckle inside and the world is a better place. 😇
How to guarantee your comment goes unread. Jeeze, dude.
While discussing our travels, I once told a co-worker that the only place I've ever visited in Africa was Djibouti... I thought she was going to slap me.
_"No! It's a real place! I promise you!"_
It was on a two-day familiarization ride with a P-3 crew, out of Diego Garcia, in 1979. Yes, I spent the night in Djibouti.
Always enjoy these videos. Greetings from Norway.
Excellent analysis. Thank you very much.
Good Report, Thanx
We've cut our consumption bigtime and we're not alone it shows..everything is too expensive
it wouldn't have to be, but we have billionaires hoarding the currency, which is a public utility, and weaponizing it against the people toward their own advantage, continuously raising the bar on everyone else while subsequently deploying all manner of gaslighting apparatus to DARVO everyone into submission. Can't keep up in this system of corporate oppression and government legislation-fixing? what's wrong with YOU? the problem is YOU, not the actual problem.
Yeah, fuel and rents are all hugely up. It's gonna take a while before wages and incomes catch up.
Most import consumption is trifling waste in the first place so the less of it one buys the more money available for useful things. Imports mostly fund ENEMY societies like mainland China so the less the better.
@@Comm0ut Americans are always sold an enemy by your Government. First it was the Ruskies, now the Chinese. I would love to have it explain to me why China is Americas biggest enemy.
@@Comm0utyeah and especially companies like temu in China.
They have free shipping and nobody looks into how.
They take advantage of a bill the US passed under Obama that gave China free shipping on items that didn't weigh much as in letters.
They raised the cost of postage on Americans to fund this.
Now temu and others take advantage by selling cheap, light weight items and Americans buy it because of free shipping.
Postal service here still has to deliver these items without getting paid for it which makes postage go higher on Americans.
Always enjoy the updates,thanks from Australia 🇦🇺⚓🍺.
You could ask him about the Australian Flagged Oil Tanker seized by the Iranians 3 days ago.
Or even our A.B.C.!
thanks for informing the public
I subbed and will watch all your reports since even during 2020-2021-2022 I have been watching shipping movement. Thousands of ships were stopped & basically parked in the oceans not moving during the Plandemic. Those huge ships had crews that had to be supported with food etc. during those times. I wondered about the logistics of that support and details like were some of their cargo’s perishable(?). I appreciate your detailed report in this video.
Excellent show 👏
I never would have thought to go looking for this information but it was fun to learn something new. Thanks.
Thank you
A very well done video with good graphics
Best geography lesson I've had in awhile. Thanks.
Absolutely fascinating, learnt a lot about shipping I didnt know before.
Very well written.The U.S. for reaons best known to them did not keep abreast of global developments and consumers will pay the price.Having been in command of container vessels in NOL in the 1983-1986 period, 2400TEU was a great size till the 'jump' to 4400 TEU.The US was very efficient in handling these ' big' babies - Longbeach- Oakland- Seattle - Vancouver smoothly in a week.
Alas they did not keep pace n the world kept growing!!
The US though has maintained its rail freight.
@@imagseer well this is not my expertise but… I don't think they've done it very safely
@@MsTasha217US rail is safer than anywhere else except Germany.
@@firebanner6424tell that the people over in Ohio
Great Video Sal, thanks for sharing
Very informative! Thank you.
Prince Rupert is set up for the ultra large ships (25 container wide). So that's a second west coast port.
What Sal is saying here is that the rail and road infrastructure as well as storage yards and warehouses need to be developed to match the capabilities of the ships and cranes.
@@larrypatty8333 No disagreement there. The Fairview container terminal in Prince Rupert has mainline rail running straight to it. They have been expanding the container storage capacity, but it's also not a terminal that would empty a whole 24,000 TEU ship as that wouldn't make sense logistically (the rail network makes sense for the transportation of goods to the Canadian Prairies and the Great Lakes region). But with four Malaccamax cranes, it can efficiently work 1/6th of a 24 bay 400 meter ship. The terminal will efficiently handle about 4000 TEU per day, with a limit of about 5000, once the current expansion finishes this year. The rail line has more than enough capacity for this.
For what it's worth, the second berth at Fairview can simultaneously work a 22 container wide ship, such as Maersk EEE, with the other 4 cranes. There is 17 m (55 ft) of draft at the terminal at low tide.
@@larrypatty8333
The rail infrastructure for the entire country needs redone.
Enjoyed listening, thanks. NZ.
Excellent video sir, The USA Business Sector is always last to invest hard capital in anything that will improve the landscape for future expansion of productivity. You nailed it, we have much room for improvement. If they keep this up, we will get left behind and nothing will be on our shelves in retail stores. Very clean explanations and simple to understand. Thanks a million. I am a new subscriber. I was hoping to gain some insight from an investment angle.
Another great video Sal. Thanks 🇺🇸🇺🇸
To be specific, it sounds like the reason UltraGinorMax container ships need 6+ ports to make a trip to a region worthwhile, is because:
1. They can unload cargo faster than ports can send it out: ship outgoing bandwidth > port outgoing bandwidth.
2. There is not enough storage capacity at ports to receive an entire ULCS container ship of goods. Alternatively, if the port does have enough capacity for one ULCS, it can’t ship out all the goods before another ULCS shows up.
24000 TEU is about 30 to 50 trains depending on train length. If you have 8 cranes doing a move every 120 seconds (to be expected with a wide and deep ship), that will take a little over 4 days, producing about 8 to 12 trains a day, or 16 to 24 considering both directions, which is achievable with a single track mainline and sufficient passing sidings. Moving 6000 TEU in and out daily (likely closer to 4000 containers in and out) makes for a busy yard, but that's achievable with 150 acres of space for an efficient ship-to-rail port.
@@MarkRose1337umm, wow. Done this before in real life, I take it.
@@ronjon7942 No, I've just done research. I'm a bit of a nerd. I've long had an interest in railroads and more recently the logistics of container shipping and port design.
If you can tolerate a dumb question, is labor shortage curently a major problem in all parts of the freight business? @@MarkRose1337
You also need to have those 20000 TEU worth of destinations for cargo. Which if you've got just 2 ports to shuttle between means a huge hinterland and that also makes thing less efficient, because the non-containership part of the journey becomes a bigger share if the containers have to travel 3000km by rail or truck.
Lets say specifically New York gets a terminal able to handle these ships. Then you have to wonder: where along the coast is it more efficient to get a Panamax to go there directly, rather than pulling a truck or train from New York all the way there. And with goods from Asia, where in the interior does it become more efficient to take a Panamax to LA and then a train from there. And then based on that hinterland, could you even fill a 24000 TEU ship? Bouncing a ship across say 5 ports helps with this because the potential economical destinations for cargoes on this one container ship become the hinterland of all these ports.
Very interesting and educational! If the US is divorcing China and marrying Mexico all this lack of port capacity becomes moot. The Europeans haven’t divorced China but they’re not as close to Japan or the Philippines as the US is. I know some Americans that will buy goods made in Mexico, but not made in China.
U.S and China will never stop trading unless the U.S completely prohibits chinese goods. Same as Europe. Mexico can be competition but that wont stop chinese exports.
Its not all or nothing. North America is slowly shying away from china, yes. Increasing port capacity is still important not only for containers but also bulk cargo and the raw materials needed for reshoring manufacturing
I had to replace my PC motherboard recently and finding a high end motherboard that's not made in China was infuriatingly difficult
@@tomrobinson2914Mine was made in Japan. It is also 14 years old lol.
To your point, much of what is 'Made in Mexico' is indeed sourced from China, but for the better part of a decade components out the PRC have been increasing in price OR decreasing in quality, and competitors to Chinese manufacturing have been rising all along. The days of Chinese competitive advantage are ending, _rapidly._
@@bread8176 Gigabyte... i would always get gigabyte.. iykyk
Truly fascinating, most people don't understand the logistics involved that underline and support their lives. Your last point of improving ports is to turn over the time of a shipping container; is an excellent investment tip.
Excellent shipping education
Thank you for the thoughtful, well prepared information
Great information 👍 just found your channel tonight as I am a logistics channel but primarily air and ground shipping in North America so its cool to see the ocean stuff and learning more and more about the ocean side of the equation. You got a new subscriber .
Thanks for the information Sir; it explains the reason for empty shelves at various stores…
Very interesting subject. Not one the average person would think of as having an important impact on how we receive goods and materials that makes our lives easier and more enjoyable.
Informative💯 Mahalo nui loa for your presentation. I learned alot👍🏾
Thanks Sal. Fascinating
Thank you!! Plus the other problem as we’ve seeing before, no workers to unload them attire ports!!
Thank SUR For Updated Blessings🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🙏🙏❤🖐
Thanks for the great explanation!
Sam, it will be very interesting to see what happens to the monster box ships in the first southern winter weather. The route around the Cape of Good Hope is not a “fair weather” run in the southern winter - it is a region known for so called freak waves, very vigorous depressions passing south of South Africa and you cannot weather route away from these as there is no optional route, you either stop and wait or you press on very slowly………..
Another thing to bear in mind - these monster ships were designed for a fair weather run across the Indian Ocean with a couple of days of heavy rolling in the S W Monsoon off Socotra - they are not constructed with southern ocean winter storm weather in mind and neither are the container securing/lashing systems. To avoid loss of containers overboard cargo planners will have to reduce stack weights and heights to reduce stress and strain on twistlocks, hatch covers and their fittings and lashing bars. Also crew accommodation- the latest Maersk vessels have been designed with the accommodation block on the foc’sle with NO protection for the crew and wheelhouse so the maximum number of containers can be carried (in fact the accommodation block is now the breakwater that protects the cargo not the cargo protecting the crew!). Nothing has been learned from the loss of either the Munchen or the Lykes lines barge carriers in tropical storms in the 1970’s it seems.
Having experienced passages around the Cape of Good Hope in my early days at sea in the 1970’s before Suez re-opened east bound passages could be awful in winter so we used to sail up the coast out to about 5 miles off the coast to get a counter current and calmer weather- these monster ships cannot do this and Cape Town is well known as a port were even the big box ships of the 1990’s could not stay alongside the berth with out many tugs assisting in a big blow - the monster ships would not be able to berth even for bunkers in the weather Cape Town can experience in a winter storm.
We shall see. It is Winter now and they have been at it for several weeks without a disaster yet ... still early days. The biggest problem with the mega ships is the delay in getting goods to the end of the line with all those intermediate ports. To keep shunting around of containers to a minimum, loading the things at the beginning and then intermediate loading and unloading must be organised by experienced Rubik's cube enthusiasts.
@@terryhoath1983It's winter in the northern hemisphere, not in South Africa or South America. Come July, those boats won't make it.
@@VagabondAnne Thanks for the reply. Yes, I know that. I am in Slovakia at the moment and only on Friday on our way North to a funeral, we passed through Nízke Tatry (Low Tatras) and we saw people skiing on vast expanses of snow. Following recent horrendous storms in the North Atlantic which have hit Britain like hammers over the last month I had the North Atlantic in mind rather than the Cape of Good Hope. These ships are exposed to the full force of Atlantic storms on the entire 7,000 miles of the Atlantic to Northern Europe. When the weather is particularly bad around the Cape, it is common for ships to hide to the East of South Africa from the worst of the Southern Ocean storms which tend to be very predictable running from West to East.
Outbound ships do the same to the East of the Lizard (the South-West of Cornwall) when violent Atlantic storms are forecast. Two or three days wait behind the Lizard might only lose a day but may avoid losing cargo overboard and save tons and tons of heavy fuel oil that would be consumed doing battle with violent and powerful headwinds. Ships returning to the Far East often ride storms around the Cape of Good Hope giving the next best thing to a free ride.
It takes a couple of days at the most to pass fully round the Cape of Good Hope into the open Atlantic in windows between the worst of the storms. Once out in the Atlantic, however, there is no escape unless taking refuge in the Med which itself can have monstrous waves clashing from all directions. Whilst the Cape of Good Hope can be bad it is nothing compared to Cape Horn where the winds are funnelled between the Andes and the mountains of the West Antarctic Peninsula.
The confused mountainous waves coming from all directions in Mid-Atlantic Storms) can give the Cape of Good Hope a run for its' money anytime. It is far easier to avoid the worst of the weather between the North Sea and Gibraltar than the entire length of the Atlantc. Every day of exposure increases exponentially, the risk of being hit by storms which often brew up out of nowhere.
Cape Town is only 34° South ... The English Channel is 50-51° North. Cape Horn (far worse) is 56° South
Všetko najlepšie (All that is best)
Never thought I’d care about shipping, but… found this to be quite an interesting and thoughtful discussion of the engineering and economic trade offs and pros/cons. Especially liked the graphics. Cheers!
Thanks Ted!
thx for the insight
Thanks Sal. Reminds me of the A380 in aviation. Very few airlines are currently operating them. Very reliable and very luxurious but only certain airports can accommodate them.
Yes, like huge cruise ships emptying thousands of passengers into tiny little ports.
Learn every time You put out a Video Sal !! 🙂 Thank You !!
My cousin is a long Shore man here in Alaska and there are 2 ultra container ships sitting sat the port of Anchorage currently.
I think it’s neat when I find out something like there are people out there that would notice something like if there are or aren’t any super large class container vessels coming or going.
Thanks for highlighting an age old problem - privatize the profits socialize the costs.
Brilliant.
Ancap playbook 101
Awaiting the "Hurr durr, b-but socialism!"
Very informative. Thank you
As a merchant mariner thanks for the information its alot going on out here
I have a sailboat in a marina in the SF Delta. It’s a deep water channel all the way to Stockton Ca. When I’m there, I see 2-4 large ships a day. I was just there for 3 weeks in January and I only saw one large ship the whole time I was there.
I sailed a schooner round the horn to Mexico, I went aloft to furl the mainsail in a blow, the yards broke off and they said that i was killed, but I am living still.
I fly a star-ship, across the universe divide, and when I reach the other side, I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can. Perhaps I may become a highwayman again, or I may simply be a single drop of rain, but I will remain and I'll be back again.
@@meetshield2461 I'll be back again and again and again and again and again and again
I was dam builder, across the river deep and wide.
Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade....many a soldier shed his lifeblood on my blade...
Ah , the frolicking lyrics of the country music equivalent of the Traveling Wilburys
I don't think it is going to happen, unless somebody think's outside the box and develops two new ports on the East Coast. Most ports on the EC appear to be beyond capacity.
Sal, when you get a chance, do a story about shipping fresh produce, we in Philadelphia have a great port for produce, even shipping it to the West Coast.
Ooo, that’s a good ask, thnx!
They can develop more ports in SC very easily. In fact a new being built now.
Fascinating, thank you
Worked in the docks at Southampton in the 90's. they built new container handling cranes at SCT5. Within weeks a container ship arrived that had to be turned round half way through discharge and loading as the new cranes couldn't reach right across
The issue with the Neopanamax is that the locks use much more fresh water than the old panamax ships, the lack of fresh water and amount used per tranist is what is limiting the capacity of the Panama Canal at the moment - no point in building bigger ships and locks if you can't use them.
The Neopanamax actually uses less water per container then the old Panama canal locks. The new locks have water saving basins that cut water usage by 60%. So the new locks use roughly the same amount of water for a 3X larger ship. That's why the Panama Canal prioritizes the Neopanamax ships.
Before shipping companies contemplate larger container ships than the ones that can go through the Suez Canal it might be wise to analyze the rise and fall of super-super tankers that as far as I can tell went the way of the dodo.
Wow that was so informative and interesting. Ty. Last month I arrived on a cruise boat into Singapore. I lost count at 100 mega boats. Now a mega boat to me is huge tankers and I saw at least 20 mega container ships. It was impressive. Something that I’ve been told is not seen anywhere else in the world. With this in mind you know where best to invest. The more stock you can receive and move the more money is to be made. Then we went into Singapore. All I can say is I’m 53 and the little boy in me could not stop saying “wow” look at that. 😅
I’m currently on a cruise that left out of Galveston yesterday. There were a couple dozen container ships lined up waiting for port entry.
Great job Sal! It seems like we are almost 2 steps behind where we should be...expanding ports on the west coast and getting the other infrastructure able to handle the bigger ships direct from Asia. Ports could raise fees to cover expansion costs and it would decrease the environmental impact as well...but politicians will be slow to act. If we do more near shoring from Veracruz in Mexico or places in South America, the need is still there for the East and Gulf Coasts...and time we tell people to get involved now...before the next crisis. Just an opinion.
thanks for your explanations that can be understood by non pros like me
Congratulations for your excellent analysis about ultra large container vessels and the obstacles for getting into American ports, so you need to have a bigger infraestructure with various interconnected big ports.
Learn Something New Every Day 😮