The Emma Maersk,  Danish shipping line,                                        What a ship....no wonder 'Made in China ' is                        displacing North American made goods big time.               This monster transports goods across the Pacific in about 5 days!!!                     This is how Wal-Mart gets it's stuff from China. 15,000 containers and a          207' deck beam!          The crew-size: 13 people on a ship longer than a US aircraft carrier  has a crew of 5,000.          Notice that 207' beam means it cannot fit through the Panama or Suez Canals .                       It is strictly transpacific. Cruise speed: 31 knots.          The goods arrive 4 days before the typical container ship (18-20 knots) on          a China -to-  California run. So this behemoth is hugely competitive when                                       carrying perishable goods.                    The ship was built in five sections. The sections floated together and                  then  welded.                  The command bridge is higher than a 10-story building and has 11                  cargo crane rigs that can operate simultaneously.                           Additional info:                 Country of origin - Denmark                      Length - 1,302 ft                      Width - 207 ft                      Net cargo - 123,200 tons                       Engine - 14 cylinders in-line diesel engine (110,000 BHP)                       Cruise Speed - 31 knots                       Cargo capacity - 15,000 TEU (1 TEU = 20 cubic feet)                      Crew - 13 people !                      First Trip - Sept. 08, 2006                       Construction cost - US $145,000,000+                    Silicone painting applied to the ship bottom reduces water                    resistance and saves 317,000 gallons of diesel per year.                                                                                            Editorial Comment! A recent documentary in late March on the History Channel noted that nearly all of these containers are shipped back to China , EMPTY Yep,  that's right.   We send nothing back on most of these ships. What does that tell you about  the current financial state of this country?  Just keep buying those imported   goods (mostly gadgets) until you run out of money.              Then you may wonder what the cause of unemployment  (maybe even your job)                  in the U.S. and Canada  might be????              'Nuff said ??