How big are the world’s largest ocean container ships?

Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine in June launched the largest container ship ever built, the aptly named Ever Alot.

The massive ship has a capacity of 24,004 twenty-foot equivalent units, just a little more than its slightly older sibling, the Ever Ace, launched in July 2021 and the former world record holder at 23,992 TEUs. 

The Ever Alot is more than 1,300 feet long and 203 feet wide. If you were to stack the Ever Alot vertically, it would be taller than the Empire State Building in New York City.

The Ever Alot made its maiden voyage leaving Shanghai, where it was constructed, to the Port of Rotterdam in August, becoming the first vessel to break the 24,000-TEU barrier. 

The Ever Ace and the Ever Alot are part of a class of ships known as very large container ships (VLCs) or ultra large container vessels (ULCVs), ships so large they can barely pass through the locks of the Panama Canal.

The Ever Ace was built by South Korea-based Samsung Heavy Industries for about $150 million, according to Taiwan News. China-based Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding manufactured the Ever Alot for a reported $145 million when it was ordered in 2019.