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A Man, A Plan, A Canal = Panama How the Panama canal works. By using the canal (instead of going around Cape Horn), ships sailing between the coasts of the United States can shorten their voyage by about 8,000 nautical miles. Containers that changed the world Epic story of container shipping How big can ships become? Very large ships offer economies of scale, but this comes at the price of a substantial loss of flexibility, with fewer ports becoming available as ship size increases. The half million tonne tankers required some 30 metres depth of water to safely float, which restricted their use to a handful of deep draught ports, to operations where they were part emptied at sea, or pumped their cargo into buoys connected to pipelines miles out to sea. And while port authorities might be persuaded to dredge their approaches and berths for a large number of ships - as Rotterdam did to accommodate ships of 250,000 tonnes, the costs of dredging to 30 metres would be prohibitive. How the invention of a box changed our world The invention of the container offers a fascinating example of the way technological change leads to higher productivity, which lowers costs per unit and so prompts increased economic activity and higher material living standards. Maersk unveil design for world's largest ship Maxing out Panama Canal webcam (time-lapse video) Recession leaves cargo ships in limbo Singapore container ships video Suez Canal: from crisis to crisis The Suez Canal has offered the shortest route from Europe to Asia since 1869. It cuts off the need to make the longer and more dangerous journey around the Cape of Good Hope, reducing the distance by 43% or 8,900 kilometres (4,900 nautical miles). However, its strategic importance has meant a troubled history. Trains in Spain signal the future World's largest container ports
A Man, A Plan, A Canal = Panama
Containers that changed the world
Epic story of container shipping
How big can ships become?
How the invention of a box changed our world
Maersk unveil design for world's largest ship
Maxing out
Panama Canal webcam (time-lapse video)
Recession leaves cargo ships in limbo
Singapore container ships video
Suez Canal: from crisis to crisis
Trains in Spain signal the future
World's largest container ports
