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COPYRIGHT 2005 The Dallas Morning News
Byline: Katherine Yung
Aug. 21--ABOARD THE MSC TEXAS -- Capt. Axel Bartel watches silently from the ninth deck, 122 feet above the water, as an enormous red crane opposite him methodically lifts a rectangular container from his megaship's deep and open hold.
Here at the Port of Long Beach, the unloading of thousands of containers affords the captain and his crew a bit of rest, a welcome relief after the 12-day voyage to Southern California from Yantian, China.
The MSC Texas is no ordinary boat. Designed to carry 8,238 20-foot containers, it's one of a new breed of giant container ships built to help satisfy the cravings of American consumers for clothes, electronics and other goods made in China.
"In the next few years, all these ports will be overrun by these ships," said Capt. Bartel, a 55-year-old veteran of the seas from Bingen, Germany.
Just how massive are these...
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