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World's largest electric container ship wraps up maiden voyage in Shanghai

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The world's largest 100% electric container ship, COSCO Shipping's Greenwater 01, completed its maiden voyage this week, arriving at the Yangshan Port in Shanghai with plans to start regular trips between major cities in the country's eastern coastal region.

The ship is over 119 meters long and about 23 meters wide, roughly the size of 10 standard basketball courts.

The Greenwater 01 is powered by several "battery boxes" which are about the size of 20-foot standard containers.

Spent battery boxes can be easily swapped out, solving problems like long charging times and short range that hinder electric container ships with fixed batteries.

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Wang Jun, captain, COSCO Shipping Greenwater 01:

"Each battery box can provide 1,600 kilowatt-hours of electricity. Six battery boxes make a set and one set is enough to power the sailing and daily operation of the ship. And power supplied by 24 battery boxes can meet the needs of a round trip of the ship, which often consumes about 80,000 kWh of electricity, equivalent to about 15 tons of oil cost for a fuel-powered ship."

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The ship maker says the vessel saves 3,900 kilograms of fuel every 100 nautical miles, effectively cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 12.4 metric tons.