Too BIG to sail? Container ship giants veer off course in battle of the mega vessels

Being recognised as the biggest in the world must have its attractions, but it cannot be fun knowing from day one that a competitor is on track to eclipse your record.

That has been the experience of China Shipping Container Lines, which had the world's biggest container ship, CSCL Globe, for a little over a month until the arrival of the MSC Oscar, operated by Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Co.

The 400-metre CSCL Globe, longer than four soccer pitches, can carry 19,100 standard containers. The MSC Oscar, delivered last month, is slightly shorter but is able to carry 124 more containers, allowing it to gain the title of the world's largest container ship.

But the MSC Oscar's time in the limelight will also be limited.

Another leviathan, the Barzan - owned by Dubai-based United Arab Shipping Co - will break the record when it is delivered by South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries in April. UASC has yet to reveal the Barzan's capacity but it told the South China Morning Post that it would be bigger than any existing container ships.

Such rapid record-setting has never been seen before in container shipping, which has been instrumental in helping global trade take off. Before the revolution known as containerisation - packing a variety of goods in standard metal boxes on ships and ensuring they could withstand rough conditions at sea and be handled efficiently at ports - the absence of a cheap, efficient and safe mode of transport was the main hindrance to trade growth.