What It Looks Like To Build The World’s Largest Ship

Photographer Alastair Philip Wiper traveled to Okpo, a port in South Korea, to photograph the construction of the world’s largest ship ever built – the Maersk Triple E.

When he arrived at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering shipyard, a gigantic ship-building construction site, he found 46,000 people working together to build and move huge parts of ships with cranes.

“The place is mind-blowing,” Wiper said.

The Maersk Triple E is about 193 feet wide, or about 60% of a football field.

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Alastair Philip Wiper

It uses two engines and two four-blade propellers.

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It can carry 11 cargo containers underneath the deck and another 10 on top. All in all the ship can carry 18,000 containers.

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“You don’t feel like you’re inside a boat, it’s more like a cathedral,” Wiper said.

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Over 252,350 gallons are used to paint the 21 massive cross sections.

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The ship’s engines can produce 40,231 hp that translates into a top speed of 25mph.

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It also produces 50% less CO2 than most large container ships traveling the Europe-Asia route.

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The vessel’s front section is 239 feet high and close to 48 feet under water. This means the ship doesn’t qualify for the Panama Canal’s restrictions. But it is still allowed through the Suez Canal.

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The ship is surprisingly manned only by 15 people at sea.

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Each propeller measures about 32 feet wide and weighs 77 tons.

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The ship’s underside is protected with anti-foul paint to slow sea organisms from growing.

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Around 310,000 miles of electrical wiring run throughout the vessel. That’s enough to circle the earth about 12 times.

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This is the captain of the Matz Maersk, Lars Peter Jensen. He has worked on the four previous largest ships in the world.

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Credits: Alastair Philip Wiper | Wired