Final answer:
Large cargo ships from Asia typically hold about 10,000 20-foot equivalent containers. They can carry a maximum load of roughly 100,000 tons, highlighting the efficiency and capacity of these vessels in modern global trade, especially with Asia being a key player in the container shipping industry.
Step-by-step explanation:
Large cargo ships traveling from Asia typically hold about 10,000 20-foot equivalent containers. These vessels, often operating between ports like Shanghai and Los Angeles, cover vast oceanic distances such as 10,400 km. With each container averaging roughly 10 tons of cargo, a fully loaded ship can carry up to around 100,000 tons of cargo. It's interesting to note that container ships have evolved to be one of the primary means of global cargo transport over the past 50 years.
The container shipping industry is heavily dominated by Asian ports, with locations like China, Japan, and South Korea being key sources of shipping. This highlights the strategic importance of Asia in the global shipping and trade network. On the West Coast of the United States, ports like Long Beach, CA, witness the systematic unloading of these massive ships by a small crew aided by advanced gantry cranes.
The efficiency of modern cargo shipping is remarkable compared to the past, where the sheer volume and speed of today's operations exceed those of the WWII era many times over, and with fewer workers required. With the importance of Asian sources and the quantity of containers that these ships carry, the role of container ships in global trade is clearly pivotal.