#Maersk Triple-E set to be the world’s largest and most fuel-efficient ship – an annotated graphic

People love the “world’s biggest [blank]” stories. While probably not high on the all-time list of Things That Are Awesome, the announcement by Danish shipping behemoth Maersk of its Triple-E container ship does at least make the grade, qualifying by dint of being the world’s largest and most fuel-efficient container ship.

Today’s infographic helpfully details the Triple-E from prow to stern, including the fascinating nugget that it will be able to transport approximately 108 million pairs of training shoes. This might not seem immediately relevant, until you consider that the ship’s intended route is from China to Europe. In the case of training shoes, this is a modern-day silk route directly from producer to consumer. Short of actually making the shoes on board the ship as it sails, this is about as direct as it gets.

Click on the graphic for an expanded view.

Maersk Triple-E container ship

Costa Concordia disaster impact on the cruise industry – an annotated graphic

Casting a look back at the repercussions (ripples?) of the Costa Concordia disaster earlier this year, when the cruise ship sank off the coast of Tuscany, this infographic considers the impact this may have on the cruise ship industry.

With 16 million people embarking on pleasure cruises last year, it’s clearly big business.

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The rise of the cruise ship industry

 

Costa Concordia image of ship’s bell found by police divers

On the E&T home page, in our Big Picture image carousel (halfway down the page, enjoy the scolling) we have a lovely picture showing police divers searching the submerged Costa Concordia wreck and the ship’s bell that they found. Check it out.

Here’s a small preview:

Costa Concordia image: the ship's bell found by police divers

Costa Concordia cruise ship – an annotated graphic #4

As recovery and investigation continues aboard and surrounding the stricken Costa Concordia cruise ship, we look today at the approach taken by the salvage operation.

Dutch salvage experts SMIT plans to use “hot tapping” technology to remove close to 2,500 tonnes of heavy fuel oil from the vessel, along with other oils and lubricants on board. This graphic describes the process.

You may also like to read E&T’s news story on a review of cruise line safety, prompted by the Costa Concordia disaster.

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Salvage hot-tapping process

 

Costa Concordia cruise ship – an annotated graphic #3

In the wake (no pun intended) of the Costa Concordia sinking, it has transpired that cruise operator Costa Cruises has had something of a chequered history, its corporate safety record leaving something to be desired. Safety, mostly.

You may also like to read E&T’s news story on a review of cruise line safety, prompted by the Costa Concordia disaster.

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Costa Cruises accident history

Costa Concordia cruise ship – an annotated graphic #2

In the wake of the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster, the usual questions, facts and reported hearsay have emerged. Apparently, the captain was navigating by eye, not by the ship’s instruments, and was sailing close to the island as a salute to a former colleague. Most importantly, of course, a number of passengers died as a result of the vessel capsizing.

This graphic details the timeline from the Concordia departing port to it striking the island of Giglio and capsizing. Total elapsed time: three hours.

You may also like to read E&T’s news story on a review of cruise line safety, prompted by the Costa Concordia disaster.

Click on the graphic for an expanded view.

Costa Concordia timeline

Costa Concordia cruise ship – an annotated graphic

The Costa Concordia is the largest vessel of its kind to sink, considerably larger than that most famous of sunken ships, the Titanic. This graphic illustrates quite how large it is, with a nifty comparison to the Statue of Liberty. Now, your correspondent has seen the Statue of Liberty up close and I can tell you that she’s no diminutive icon: she a big lady. The Costa Concordia must have been a whopper.

Personally, the concept of cruise ships has never appealed to me much and with this unfortunate business of running aground and capsizing uppermost in our minds at present, it’s become even less attractive a proposition, no matter how many bars, casinos or fitness centres a ship may have on board.

You may also like to read E&T’s news story on a review of cruise line safety, prompted by the Costa Concordia disaster.

Click on the graphic for an expanded view.

Costa Concordia factfile