World's largest container ship arrives at the Port of Felixstowe

The world's largest ship, with a massive cargo so big it could supply everyone in the country with something, has arrived in Britain.

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Four thousand of the containers - with a total of 57,000 tons of cargo of food, drink, clothing, electrical goods and furniture - are being unloaded at Felixstowe in Suffolk.

The massive ship, built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea, weighs 184,000 tons and is 1,312ft long, compared to The Shard's 1,014ft height.

The carrier - the size of four football pitches - will be returned to Asia with goods from Britain.

The CSCL Globe is also calling at Rotterdam, Hamburg and Zeebrugge in Belgium before heading back to the Far East.

Guests from across the shipping industry and community were invited to a quayside lunch and VIP tour of the ship at Felixstowe.

The ship is carrying such a variety of goods, including millions of razors, it is likely everyone in the country would buy something from it.

Fully-laden, the ship can carry 156 million pairs of shoes or 300m tablet computers or 900m tins of beans.

Paul Davey, of Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited who owns the port of Felixstowe, said: "The arrival of this ship represents a first for the UK.

"It is important economically, the direct call recognises the scale of the UK economy, and economies-of-scale provide the most efficient way to get UK exports to important Asian markets."