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Alarms go off with mega-ships

After the Ever Given got stuck in the Suez Canal, maritime authorities raised their alarms, thanks to the new mega-ships being built today.

With the growing surge of international trade, the manufacture of vessels increases more and more and with it its size. This entails a great responsibility because the ports are not prepared for the reception of the new mega-ships.

“Ports and canals have not always been developed enough to accommodate extra-large vessels and in some cases, they have become relatively narrow and markedly reduced maneuvering space and margin for error,” explains Rahul Khanna.

Thanks to this, concern increases because the production of these mega-ships is only intended to cover the needs of one sector, without measuring the risks that may arise with maritime transport.

In this sense, China and South Korea are the ones currently in the battle for the production of ships: “In 2020, 43% and 41% of the world market of orders for the sector were respectively distributed.”

What are the consequences of mega-ships?

The biggest concern is undoubtedly the issue of collisions, accidents such as fires, or the danger posed by the size of the ships in ports. Also, the handling of a large ship in extreme weather situations.

 This leads to the movement of infrastructure that must be done in the ports, to optimize the departure and grounding of mega-ships.

You can read the full note in Portfolio.