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Very large ships, we are confidently told, offer the solution to so many of the problems that beset the shipping industry. To mention just a few of their advantages, there are the obvious benefits of scale economies, with one ship doing the work of perhaps two but gratifying reductions in emissions and environmental effects for the substantial payloads they offer. They save fuel, when this is expected to become still more expensive, and can move a container or a tonne of ore for a dramatically reduced unit price, or a cruise or ferry passenger carried more economically, but unlike aviation with no reduction in luxury!
So is it a convincing case for “gigantism” in the maritime world? Perhaps, but as with all things there are balances which have to be struck and often quite large adjustments that must be considered. There are operational problems which have to be surmounted before the giant ship can be running smoothly and making profits for her owners. The lack of flexibility occasioned by a ship’s great size is usually cited as an important negative factor. It may indeed be a real problem if the ship has to be moved from the route for which she was originally designed, as there may be few alternative places to which she can trade at her full draught.
And it is probably true that the hearts of those running ports will invariably sink as they hear of the latest plans for some great extrapolation in ship sizes. They know the depth of their channels and can imagine the long battles with environmental interests before they can dredge to the new required depth to accommodate the “next generation”. Their finance directors wearily point out the cost of such requirements.
Complete Post at:
http://www.balkans.com/open-news.php?uniquenumber=116792
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