Ship Shape: Stories of the Cargo Ship

On January 18, 2007, the gale force winds in the English Channel were strong enough to take out the power and flood the engine room of the MSC Napoli, a 62,000-ton container ship. Though the mammoth vessel went down more than 40 miles from shore, more than 100 of its 2,400 containers—holding a hodgepodge of consumer goods not limited to expensive hand creams, wine barrels, Nike sneakers and even BMW motorcycles—washed up on the beaches of the Cornish coast of England. For weeks following the event, hundreds of locals fought the cold to pillage the loot, until the area was sealed off. According to the United Kingdom’s Maritime and Coast Guard Agency, it will be a year before the Napoli’s valuable floating cargo can be fully recovered by salvage vessels.Today, more than 90 percent of the world’s traded goods—liquid, solid and gas—move by cargo ship. A 1500-foot oil tanker can carry more than a half-million tons of crude oil at one time; much smaller, compartmentalized chemical tankers can safely tow a variety of dangerous, volatile or fragile substances, from hydrochloric acid to coconut oil to beer. And thanks to container ships, which hold as many as 5,000 40-foot steel boxes, Barbie dolls can be made by workers in China, with nylon hair from Japan, plastic bodies from Taiwan and paint pigments from America.Without question, cargo shipping in the last 50 years has revolutionized the global economy. But with all of the economic growth it’s spurred, shipping has its dark side: In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Western governments are much more concerned with security threats posed by the millions of containers exchanged between nations each year. Moreover, massive oil and chemical spills from tankers damaged at sea, as well as the toxic substances given off during the scrapping of old ships demonstrate that these incredible vessels can leave a damaging environmental footprint.Read more at BOSS Magazine, Summer 2007.