Bigger than the Shard, four football pitches in size, and can carry 900MILLION tins of beans: World's largest ship arrives in UK today

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The world's largest ship, which is the size of four football pitches and can carry 900million tins of beans, arrived into Britain today for the first time.

The Hong-Kong registered CSCL Globe, which is longer than The Shard is tall, left Shanghai on its maiden voyage on December 8 carrying 19,100 containers.

Stacked end to end, the containers would be five times the height of Mount Everest.

Nearly 4,000 of them - with a total of 57,000 tons of cargo including food, drink, clothing, electrical goods and furniture - are being unloaded at Felixstowe in Suffolk. 

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The Hong-Kong registered CSCL Globe, which is longer than The Shard is tall, left Shanghai on its maiden voyage on December 8 carrying 19,100 containers. It arrived in Felixtowe, Suffolk, at about 1pm today and dock workers immediately started unloading 4,000 of the containers

A total of 57,000 tons of cargo including food, drink, clothing, electrical goods and furniture will be unloaded at Felixstowe in the next 24 hours

The cargo ship is is 400 metres long, 59 metres wide and can carry 19,100 standard 20ft containers. It departed China for Britain in December

The massive cargo 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.

It is 400 metres long and 59 metres wide and can carry 19,100 standard 20ft containers, around 1,000 more than the previous record.

The ship set sail on its 11,067 mile maiden voyage from the Chinese port of Yantian last month.

It stopped off at Port Kelang in Malaysia to load more cargo before passing through the Suez canal.

With a multi-national crew of just 31 on board, the ship arrived into the Suffolk port at about 1pm today, escorted by four tugs which helped to toe and nudge the ship into position across two berths.

The largest ship to have previously docked at Felixstowe was the Maersk Triple-E, which arrived in November with about 18,000 containers.

The green-hulled CSCL Globe was almost full to capacity with most of the containers double-sized 40ft units which can be towed by lorries.

Containers were stacked up to nine high on the deck with a similar number invisible below deck. The ship was moored at a new deep-water berth at the port, which opened in 2011 at a cost of £300m.

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

Dock workers using seven ship-to-shore cranes almost immediately began unloading the 3,978 containers carrying goods for Britain.

The cargo destined for UK shops included 109 containers full of soft furnishings and sofas, 62 containing white goods such as fridges and washing machines, 104 packed with footwear, 16 loaded with bags and 15 with children's toys.

The cargo destined for UK shops included 109 containers full of soft furnishings and sofas, 62 containing white goods like fridges and washing machines, 104 packed with footwear, 16 loaded with bags and 15 with children's toys. Crowds gathered to watch the ship pull into the port

Containers were stacked up to nine high on the deck as the ship was moored at a new £300m deep-water berth at Felixstowe, which opened in 2011. Fully-laden, the Hong-Kong registered ship can carry 156million pairs of shoes, 300million tablet computers or 900million tins of beans

The operation to unload the ship - and put 3,909 new containers on board - is expected to be completed in the Suffolk port by midnight on Thursday when the ship is due to leave for Rotterdam, followed by Hamburg and Zeebrugge in Belgium. It will then return to the Far East

Other containers were full of food and electronic equipment while 42 were packed with books, 11 contained flooring, 15 were full of bathroom fittings and ten were crammed with bedding.

The ship is said to be carrying only a small number of electronic goods due to British retailers having already imported so many just before Christmas to cater for the festive season.

Another 3,909 containers are due to be loaded on to the ship, operated by the China Shipping Container Line, to replace those being taken off.

Only one in five will actually carry British goods, such as precision engineering products, automotive parts and luxury UK items for overseas markets.

The operation to unload the ship is expected to be completed by midnight on Thursday when the ship is due to leave for Rotterdam, followed by Hamburg and Zeebrugge in Belgium. It will then return 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 today.

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.'

The ship is the first of five giant vessels of the same size which are being built for China Shipping Container Line.

Alan Newell, general manager of the firm's UK subsidiary China Shipping UK Agency, said: 'Our aim is to provide a modern, fast and efficient shipping service for consumers.

'We have worked and planned for the arrival of this ship at Felixstowe for a long time. Computer simulations had to be carried out to make sure that the pilots could safely manoeuvre the ship into the port.

'It is a fantastic day for the Port of Felixstowe and China Shipping Container Line. We are very proud.'

Clemence Cheng, chief executive of the Port of Felixstowe, said: 'We are the major gateway for trade between the UK and China and the CSCL Globe is a magnificent testimony to the importance of the Europe-Asia trade.'