China builds giant container ship

China's largest container ship capable of carrying 8,530 TEUs is expected to be launched in three years, according to the Shanghai-based Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd., which is working on it.

The 90,500-ton container ship is 334 meters long and 42.8 meters wide and can sail at a maximum speed of 27 knots.

"This king-size ship will be the best-equipped container ship in China and up to the world's advanced level," said a Chinese expert.

Hudong-Zhonghua will build four or five container ships of this size for the China Shipping Group, according to an agreement signed Monday in Shanghai.

Building of these gigantic container ships will be completed in October 2008. The first one is expected to leave Shanghai for its maiden overseas voyage in 2007, company officials said.

A 8,500-TEU container ship, manufactured in the Republic of Korea, is believed the largest one in the world currently.