# Largest Ship in the World

A source-linked directory of large ships and floating facilities.

- [Ship directory](https://largestshipintheworld.com/ships/): Search all published vessel profiles.
- [Top 100 by length](https://largestshipintheworld.com/largest/by-length/): All-time ranking within the directory, with an active-fleet filter.
- [Top 100 by gross tonnage](https://largestshipintheworld.com/largest/by-gross-tonnage/): GT measures volume, not mass. Historical GRT is excluded.
- [Widest ships](https://largestshipintheworld.com/largest/by-beam/): Beam ranking among recorded profiles.
- [Most container capacity](https://largestshipintheworld.com/largest/by-teu/): Nominal TEU ranking.
- [Most passengers](https://largestshipintheworld.com/largest/by-passengers/): Cruise capacity ranking.
- [Vessel map](https://largestshipintheworld.com/): Timestamped AIS reports for reviewed identities and historical maritime locations.
- [Methodology](https://largestshipintheworld.com/methodology/): Coverage, source precision, ties and verification levels.
- [Dataset](https://largestshipintheworld.com/data/): CSV and JSON factual compilation, CC BY 4.0. Images and source articles have separate licenses.
- [Seawise Giant](https://largestshipintheworld.com/ships/seawise-giant/): Detailed sourced historical profile.
- [Shipbuilding](https://largestshipintheworld.com/shipbuilding/)
- [Ship recycling](https://largestshipintheworld.com/shipbreaking/)
- [Ship classes](https://largestshipintheworld.com/classes/): Sister vessels grouped by design family.
- [Shipyards and breaker yards](https://largestshipintheworld.com/places/): Building and dismantling centres with maps.

The directory is not an exhaustive world registry. Source-listed active status is not a fresh survey. Floating facilities are separate from the self-propelled ship Top 100. Use each profile's cited sources and measurement notes.

## Exploration tools

- [Compare ships](https://largestshipintheworld.com/compare/): Two or three vessels, shared length scale and separate specification columns.
- [Size explorer](https://largestshipintheworld.com/size-explorer/): Vessel length against clearly defined reference lengths.
- [Record timeline](https://largestshipintheworld.com/records/): Selected historical milestones and directory-computed record holders, not an exhaustive succession of world records.
- [Tracking dashboard](https://largestshipintheworld.com/tracking/): Received AIS positions, receipt ages and coverage gaps. No position is inferred when a report is missing.
- [Canal fit check](https://largestshipintheworld.com/canal-fit/): Length and beam against stated Panama, Suez and Malacca envelopes.
- [Fleet at a glance](https://largestshipintheworld.com/at-a-glance/): Distributions and top lists computed from the directory.
- [Glossary](https://largestshipintheworld.com/glossary/): Plain-language definitions of the measurements used on the site.
- [Future fleet](https://largestshipintheworld.com/futures/): Ships on order and under construction, with sources and claimed delivery years.
- [Expanded ship stories](https://largestshipintheworld.com/explore/): Twenty-five prominent vessels with construction and purpose context.
- [Search](https://largestshipintheworld.com/search/): Fuse across profiles, classes, yard pages and journal posts.

## Journal

- [News archive](https://largestshipintheworld.com/news/) · [RSS](https://largestshipintheworld.com/news/rss.xml)
- [Blog archive](https://largestshipintheworld.com/blog/) · [RSS](https://largestshipintheworld.com/blog/rss.xml)

## Visual exploration
- [inside a ship](https://largestshipintheworld.com/inside-a-ship/)
- [engineering lab](https://largestshipintheworld.com/engineering-lab/)
- [ship histories](https://largestshipintheworld.com/ship-histories/)
- [voyages](https://largestshipintheworld.com/voyages/)
- [galleries](https://largestshipintheworld.com/galleries/)
- [running a giant](https://largestshipintheworld.com/running-a-giant/)
- [case studies](https://largestshipintheworld.com/case-studies/)

## Published engineering guides
- [Raising Costa Concordia: parbuckling, sponsons and the engineering of recovery](https://largestshipintheworld.com/blog/costa-concordia-salvage-engineering/): How engineers stabilized, rotated and refloated a damaged passenger ship, and why supporting the wreck was as important as applying the force to move it.
- [Freeing Ever Given: the engineering behind the Suez Canal salvage](https://largestshipintheworld.com/blog/ever-given-salvage-engineering/): How ground support, dredging, buoyancy, ballast and coordinated tug forces interact, using the March 2021 salvage as a sourced engineering case study.
- [How giant ships stop and turn: momentum, rudders, pods and tugboats](https://largestshipintheworld.com/blog/how-giant-ships-stop-and-turn/): Follow a manoeuvre from the bridge command to the forces in the water, with worked examples, original diagrams and a close look at why stopping takes time.
- [How ship ballast systems work: tanks, trim, stability and treatment](https://largestshipintheworld.com/blog/how-ship-ballast-systems-work/): Why ships carry seawater, how crews move it through the hull, and why stability, structural strength and biological treatment are different parts of the same operation.
- [Life inside a ship’s engine room: the systems that keep a giant moving](https://largestshipintheworld.com/blog/life-inside-a-ships-engine-room/): A detailed tour from fuel tanks and cylinders to cooling water, electricity, freshwater and the engineers who keep the machinery working.
- [Running a giant ship: people, fuel, provisions, maintenance and money](https://largestshipintheworld.com/blog/running-a-giant-ship/): What it takes to keep a large vessel working, from watchkeeping and refrigerated stores to fuel budgets, port calls, dry docking and the costs a headline price leaves out.
- [The 400-metre ceiling: why container ships stopped growing longer](https://largestshipintheworld.com/blog/why-container-ships-stopped-growing-longer/): The world largest container ships carry over 24,000 TEU, yet virtually none exceed 400 metres in length. Here is the engineering behind the 400-metre barrier, from hull girder bending and open-deck torsion to the beam expansion that reshaped global shipping.
- [How ships reduce rolling: fins, tanks and gyroscopic stabilizers explained](https://largestshipintheworld.com/blog/how-ships-stop-rolling-stabilizers-explained/): How ships tame side-to-side motion at sea and at anchor, with detailed explanations of fins, anti-roll tanks, gyroscopes, control systems and their limits.
- [Ship hull design explained: the shape beneath the waterline](https://largestshipintheworld.com/blog/ship-hull-design-explained/): A detailed guide to hull shape, bulbous bows, resistance, stability and structure, with worked examples, five original diagrams and engineering videos.
- [Ship propulsion explained: engines, electric drives, pods and the next generation](https://largestshipintheworld.com/blog/ship-propulsion-systems-explained/): Follow the energy from the fuel tank to the water, and understand the choices that shape a ship’s machinery, manoeuvrability and emissions.
- [How a cruise ship is built: from steel blocks to a floating city](https://largestshipintheworld.com/blog/how-a-cruise-ship-is-built/): A cruise ship takes shape in sections. Understanding that process makes shipyard news much easier to follow.
- [Venice builds cruise ships, too: a closer look at Marghera](https://largestshipintheworld.com/blog/venice-cruise-shipbuilding-marghera/): Beyond Venice’s familiar waterfront lies an industrial story, with cruise ships built at Marghera.
- [A shipbuilder’s tour of Europe: four countries behind the cruise fleet](https://largestshipintheworld.com/blog/europe-cruise-shipbuilding-map/): From Finland’s southwest coast to the River Ems, the construction map tells a different story from a cruise itinerary.

Full article text and citations: https://largestshipintheworld.com/llms-full.txt