Seriously Big Ships
One bonus of having moved to a place where I can look at Commencement Bay (Tacoma, WA) and the Port of Tacoma is that I get to watch ships come and go. It is easy to grow very used to the massive size of the ships I see, but today had a great reminder when a cargo ship that was anchored in the bay was passed by the Vashon Island Ferry.
The Tahlequah, the usual auto ferry from Point Defiance to Vashon Island in Tacoma is a pretty good sized boat. It holds 62 autos, and when you get on the ferry it feels like a pretty big ship. I was taken aback by the sheer size of the cargo ship it passed which looked like a typical size cargo ship to me. Check out the comparison photo above. These cargo ships are monsters. Some of the ships that come to the Port of Tacoma are over 1150 feet long and 150 feet wide. That is the length of over 3 football fields. They can carry up to 10,000 containers. Bigger ships are anticipated in coming years and the Port of Tacoma recently brought bigger cranes over from China on a ship that passed our place on a ship that was also quite a sight.
I get to watch more than birds with my spotting scope from our new place.
Good birding.
I (still) love those sights also (which might because I don't live near a harbour regularly).
However, Hamburg, the biggest harbour in Germany has a serious issue with the growth of the ships. The Elbe river is not deep enough.
Also, ship transport has been or still is something gambling-like for people wanting to invest and get money in return. But the staff meanwhile costs too much to employ German personnel. That's the end of seafarer romantic. :(
The port of Tacoma is growing regularly in large part due to its deep water access, as well as the ground transportation infrastructure that is so immediately available with rail and highway access so easy.