CMA CGM has made a number of cabins on board its 16,000-TEU Marco Polo available to fee-paying passengers eager to see Asia and Europe and experience life on board a merchant vessel.
The vessel is currently the world's largest containership, measuring 396 metres in length and is comparable in size to four football pitches and in height to the Empire State Building.
Yet, this coming July, the Marco Polo will be stripped of its crown with the scheduled delivery of Maersk Line's first Triple-E containership built by South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. The Triple-E is 400 metres long, 59 metres wide, 73 metres high, and is designed to transport 18,000-TEU.
The route on board the Marco Polo will take the traveller across Asia and Europe as the working ship calls at Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen, Hong Kong, Shenzhen-Chiwan, Shenzhen-Yantian, Port Kelang, Tanger, Southampton, Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Le Havre, Malta, Khor Al Fakkan, Jebel Ali and back to Ningbo.
Ship facilities include five double, modern cabins of 20-metres-square each, a lounge with TV equipment, a library, a fitness room and swimming pool.
"These original cruises offer travellers the possibility to live a unique and unforgettable experience by discovering oceans, seas and continents to the beat of international trade and involving themselves in the life on board by sharing the crew's everyday life," a statement from the French shipping line said.
The company first launched its "cargo cruises" in 2000 to allow travellers aboard its containerships that ply the major trade routes from North Europe-Asia, US-Asia, Round the World via the Panama Canal, the West Indian road, and Europe-India, the Shipping Gazette informs.
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