China set to launch longest freighter

[HONG KONG] In shipping these days, bigger is better. Even if it's just one metre.

China Shipping Container Lines is ready to launch the largest containership ever built, a 400-metre (1,300-feet) behemoth that stretches more than four football fields and can haul about 190 million iPads. The vessel promises to nose out the 399-metre AP Moeller-Maersk A/S Triple-Es to be the longest ship afloat, when it sets sail in November.

The ship - the first of five similar vessels on order - will give China bragging rights in a key industry as depressed container rates are driving lines to seek economies of scale and lower fuel costs. Introducing the fuel-efficient Triple Es last year helped Maersk Line, the biggest container-shipping company, boost profit 56 per cent to US$1 billion in the first half of the year.