Surveying Deep-Draught Routes

Extract

Before the war it would have been comparatively easy for anyone interested to quote the names of all the really large ships afloat, if not some of their vital statistics. To do so today would require a considerable feat of memory as the number of vessels in the 50,000 ton and upwards class has reached almost 200 with, in recent years, a growing emphasis on those of over 100,000 tons. In the last few years no less than 51 of these monsters of over 100,000 tons have appeared at sea representing about 1/10th of the total world tonnage completed during that period. There are several 326,000 tonners ploughing the seas; 350–375,000 tonners are on the slips, with 750,000 tonners on the drawing boards and the possibility of topping the 1 million mark in the future.