That’s a Fuckin’ Huge Boat

CGA CMG Marco Polo

Class and type:	Explorer-classcontainer ship
Tonnage:	175,343 GT 85,361 NT 187,625 DWT
Length:	396.0 m (1,299 ft 3 in)
Beam:	53.6 m (175 ft 10 in)
Draught:	16.0 m (52 ft 6 in)
Depth:	29.9 m (98 ft 1 in) (deck edge to keel)
Installed power:	Wärtsilä 14RT-flex96C (80,080 kW)
Propulsion:	Single shaft, fixed-pitch propeller
Speed:	25.1 knots (46.5 km/h; 28.9 mph)[2]
Capacity:	16,020 TEU[5] 1,100 TEU(reefers)[6]
Crew:	27[7]

The CMA CGM Marco Polo made a stop at the Port of Savannah on Wednesday. It is the largest container ship to ever visit the East coast. So, of course, people came out to watch it come up the Savannah river. I have been along River Street in Savannah when one of these ships goes by. Pictures do not do their enormous size justice. They are truly a marvel of modern engineering. At one point the Marco Polo was the largest container ship on the planet. Is the arrival of this ship and its cargo cause for celebration or concern? 

The Marco Polo and similar ships should remind us of the millions of manufacturing jobs that have been moved overseas. The jobs lost included service and repair jobs. We have become a nation who buys cheaper throwaway goods. These giant ships do not return to countries like China empty. The problem is that we are sending them raw materials and they return to us value added finished goods. So companies here save money paying lower wages overseas and sell goods to consumers in an economy that is increasingly service oriented. If you want a peek at how this has impacted us look at current manufacturing. It has been somewhat hamstrung by a shortage of computer chips. They seem to be in everything and they are in short supply. As a final thought if you wonder about the effects of a service economy look at the impact COVID-19 had on our economy over the past year. Absent massive intervention by the government our economy would have collapsed. 

Instead of cheering when these massive ships call a port we should be protesting. Next time you go shopping flip that item over and see where it was made. If you can, when you can, buy products made in the USA.