I’m sure you’re all dying to know what a ship of this size
carries from/to Asia.
So was I, hence my question posed to
the Captain one evening at dinner.
Some background knowledge for you
The
weight of the ship, with no containers, is about 30,000 tonnes. It can hold, at a maximum, up to 3,750 containers. There are two sizes of containers: 20 and
40ft. If the ship’s full of containers
(20 and/or 40ft), it can weigh up to 100,000 tonnes.
“Ahh
yes, let’s have a look here then” the Captain pulls out a file to see what’s on
board. From Europe to Asia the
containers are carrying foodstuffs (wine, beer, frozen meat & fish), cowhide
and electronic components. Sometimes
they carry medicines too. There are also
empty containers on board.
From Asia to Europe is mostly the assembled
electronic goods, the finished clothes/goods.
Yes, the irony is is that it’s cheaper to send
untreated leather and unassembled electronics to China/Asia, have the products
made/assembled there and then shipped back to Europe for sale, rather than pay
for and assemble in Europe (ahh the cogs of Globalization. Remember this the next time you joke about a
product being made in China…think of the cost to you if it weren’t).
Depending on the carrier,
one 40ft container from Asia to Europe (full) can cost approx. $1,500US. Admittedly, the
cost of this transportation to and fro is ultimately paid by us, the consumer
in the sense that it’s factored into the cost of the finished product…but even
then, to operate in this way and it still
work out cheaper than have a product made in Europe/U.S.? Well, for me I need a while to get my head
around it!
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