5 ms·

There are 20 thousand containers on that ship. No, that's not a mistake. It says it can carry 20 thousand and I assume it travels at capacity. Even if you coul

There are 20 thousand containers on that ship. No, that's not a mistake. It says it can carry 20 thousand and I assume it travels at capacity. Even if you could somehow launch one every minute that would still take 2 weeks of non-stop bombardment. Fascinating how much stuff you can put on a ship and the scale of loading/unloading operation.

anderspitman 6y ago
Huh, a case where using kubernetes is actually justified.
- stormcode 6y ago
  Thank you, I needed that laugh.
- ethbr0 6y ago
  Also like kubernetes, here's a picture of 20,000 zombie containers, getting no work done.
- nhoughto 6y ago
  I was thinking, no way isn’t there a 10k container limit? Nope 300k appr ! https://kubernetes.io/docs/setup/best-practices/cluster-large/ https://kubernetes.io/docs/setup/best-practices/cluster-larg...
- SauciestGNU 6y ago
  Well, using helm certainly would have been advisable.
  - jacobr1 6y ago
    Maybe they did! Modern helm doesn't have a tiller ... seems like this explains the mid-canal steering problem!
tyingq 6y ago
It has a max capacity of 20 thousand TEU, which is "20 foot equivalents". Most of the containers on the ship appear to be 40 foot ones. So 10,000 is probably closer to the total number. Edit: It may also not be "full". Here's a top/bottom picture with the most "full" I could find on the top, and the current situation on the bottom. https://imgur.com/a/b8neNkR https://imgur.com/a/b8neNkR Edit: So maybe 6000 40 foot containers, current state?
- lmilcin 6y ago
  Thanks for the correction. Then a week of bombardment. Still impressive.
- neogodless 6y ago
  In the photo where it looks quite full, the visible edge containers appear to be about 10x24x28 or 6,720 not accounting for missing ones on the top layers. In a photo from today it looked closer to only 6,000. Of course this methodology may be flawed or have some bad assumptions. Like containers below the visible deck layer??!
  - tyingq 6y ago
    Pretty sure they would all be above and visible. Here's the ship empty: http://www.shipspotting.com/photos/middle/7/2/1/2892127.jpg http://www.shipspotting.com/photos/middle/7/2/1/2892127.jpg And a good photo to confirm your 28 bow-to-stern number: https://photos.fleetmon.com/vessels/ever-given_9811000_2641005_Large.jpg https://photos.fleetmon.com/vessels/ever-given_9811000_26410...
    - neogodless 6y ago
      Nice! There do appear to be gaps reducing that 28 a bit, too... So I can't imagine there are 6,720 containers on the ship today.
    - gk1 6y ago
      They hold containers inside, too. Or else the ship would get too top-heavy. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/dd/72/f2/dd72f2e14fa997abad8123602fb31cf1.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/originals/dd/72/f2/dd72f2e14fa997abad81...
fallingknife 6y ago
So no way you're doing it in less than a few months without a port facility. A year would be 1 every 25 mins which I think is more likely.
onlyrealcuzzo 6y ago
How do they load and unload these things in a port in only a couple of days?! Do the cranes take off several containers at a time? It's hard for me to imagine they can move a container off the ship and get back to another container in less than a minute.
- petronio 6y ago
  You can have multiple cranes working on a ship in parallel, like in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=590t6mbebsc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=590t6mbebsc
  - kqr 6y ago
    And they are unloaded onto something that can transport them out of the way. Even in the desert, after 3,000 or so containers, finding room in the big pile to unload number 3,001 without moving the crane to make a new pile might be problematic.
    - Cthulhu_ 6y ago
      Yeah, and those systems are fully automated too - years if not decades before e.g. Amazon started doing something similar in their warehouses. Mind you, containers were standardized in the 60's so there's a bit of a head start there.
    - gala8y 6y ago
      This video really shows the process up close: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj7ixi2lqF4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj7ixi2lqF4
- toast0 6y ago
  The cranes take one container off at a time (except when the container underneath sticks to the top one, which is not good). Actually, wikipedia says some cranes do two to four containers on purpose now. Usually the crane operator will load/unload several containers without moving along the dock; because they're all lined up, the crane only needs to travel in two dimensions (vertically and across the boat from port to starboard). The cranes are specialized to pick up containers by the top corners, which makes connecting fast. Standardized containers means the corners are at the same place (ok, there's a few sizes, but 40 ft containers are the vast majority of ocean shipping) and lining up is easy. On the dockside, there's a crew of longshoremen that move chassis (trailers) into place for the crane to drop (gently, usually) the containers on, those are then parked nearby, etc. Depending on the ship (and the dockside staffing), you can have multiple cranes working the ship. Planning is required to keep the ship balanced and minimize the number of containers moved. These ships generally visit several ports in order, and usually both unload and load at all of them, so it's complex. Depending on the traffic (and pandemics), the port runs up to three shifts.

anderspitman 6y ago

Huh, a case where using kubernetes is actually justified.

stormcode 6y ago
Thank you, I needed that laugh.
ethbr0 6y ago
Also like kubernetes, here's a picture of 20,000 zombie containers, getting no work done.
nhoughto 6y ago
I was thinking, no way isn’t there a 10k container limit? Nope 300k appr ! https://kubernetes.io/docs/setup/best-practices/cluster-large/ https://kubernetes.io/docs/setup/best-practices/cluster-larg...
SauciestGNU 6y ago
Well, using helm certainly would have been advisable.
- jacobr1 6y ago
  Maybe they did! Modern helm doesn't have a tiller ... seems like this explains the mid-canal steering problem!

tyingq 6y ago

It has a max capacity of 20 thousand TEU, which is "20 foot equivalents". Most of the containers on the ship appear to be 40 foot ones. So 10,000 is probably closer to the total number. Edit: It may also not be "full". Here's a top/bottom picture with the most "full" I could find on the top, and the current situation on the bottom. https://imgur.com/a/b8neNkR https://imgur.com/a/b8neNkR Edit: So maybe 6000 40 foot containers, current state?

lmilcin 6y ago
Thanks for the correction. Then a week of bombardment. Still impressive.
neogodless 6y ago
In the photo where it looks quite full, the visible edge containers appear to be about 10x24x28 or 6,720 not accounting for missing ones on the top layers. In a photo from today it looked closer to only 6,000. Of course this methodology may be flawed or have some bad assumptions. Like containers below the visible deck layer??!
- tyingq 6y ago
  Pretty sure they would all be above and visible. Here's the ship empty: http://www.shipspotting.com/photos/middle/7/2/1/2892127.jpg http://www.shipspotting.com/photos/middle/7/2/1/2892127.jpg And a good photo to confirm your 28 bow-to-stern number: https://photos.fleetmon.com/vessels/ever-given_9811000_2641005_Large.jpg https://photos.fleetmon.com/vessels/ever-given_9811000_26410...
  - neogodless 6y ago
    Nice! There do appear to be gaps reducing that 28 a bit, too... So I can't imagine there are 6,720 containers on the ship today.
  - gk1 6y ago
    They hold containers inside, too. Or else the ship would get too top-heavy. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/dd/72/f2/dd72f2e14fa997abad8123602fb31cf1.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/originals/dd/72/f2/dd72f2e14fa997abad81...

fallingknife 6y ago

So no way you're doing it in less than a few months without a port facility. A year would be 1 every 25 mins which I think is more likely.

onlyrealcuzzo 6y ago

How do they load and unload these things in a port in only a couple of days?! Do the cranes take off several containers at a time? It's hard for me to imagine they can move a container off the ship and get back to another container in less than a minute.

petronio 6y ago
You can have multiple cranes working on a ship in parallel, like in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=590t6mbebsc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=590t6mbebsc
- kqr 6y ago
  And they are unloaded onto something that can transport them out of the way. Even in the desert, after 3,000 or so containers, finding room in the big pile to unload number 3,001 without moving the crane to make a new pile might be problematic.
  - Cthulhu_ 6y ago
    Yeah, and those systems are fully automated too - years if not decades before e.g. Amazon started doing something similar in their warehouses. Mind you, containers were standardized in the 60's so there's a bit of a head start there.
  - gala8y 6y ago
    This video really shows the process up close: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj7ixi2lqF4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj7ixi2lqF4
toast0 6y ago
The cranes take one container off at a time (except when the container underneath sticks to the top one, which is not good). Actually, wikipedia says some cranes do two to four containers on purpose now. Usually the crane operator will load/unload several containers without moving along the dock; because they're all lined up, the crane only needs to travel in two dimensions (vertically and across the boat from port to starboard). The cranes are specialized to pick up containers by the top corners, which makes connecting fast. Standardized containers means the corners are at the same place (ok, there's a few sizes, but 40 ft containers are the vast majority of ocean shipping) and lining up is easy. On the dockside, there's a crew of longshoremen that move chassis (trailers) into place for the crane to drop (gently, usually) the containers on, those are then parked nearby, etc. Depending on the ship (and the dockside staffing), you can have multiple cranes working the ship. Planning is required to keep the ship balanced and minimize the number of containers moved. These ships generally visit several ports in order, and usually both unload and load at all of them, so it's complex. Depending on the traffic (and pandemics), the port runs up to three shifts.