Mediterranean Shipping Company has taken delivery from China’s Yangzi Shifu Shipbuilding of what is today the world’s largest containership, the MSC Irina, with a capacity of 24,346 TEUs. On the same day, MSC also received the MSC Tessa, which also has a capacity of more than 24,000 containers.

Until now, the world’s biggest containership was the OOCL Spain whose capacity is 24,188 TEUs.

The Swiss-based carrier has embarked on the largest fleet expansion in its history. The two ships are the first in a series of more than a dozen massive container ships that will be delivered in the coming months.

Each vessel is 1,312 feet long and has a beam of just over 200 feet. They load containers up to 25 across. With bulbous bows and a double deckhouse design, they are outfitted with large diameter propellers, energy saving ducts, shaft generation systems, and hybrid scrubbers.

(Photo from Yangzi Shifu Shipbuilding)