World's Largest concrete ship to be dismantled after 30 years

[Christerart]

World's largest concrete boat to be dismantled - People's Daily Online

Ship Ashore - Around the World News - Austrian Times Online News - English Newspaper

World’s largest concrete boat named Gutian is to be dismantled after stranded for 30 years in Fuzhou city of Fujian province.

"Made of steel reinforced concrete the SS Gutian was launched to herald in a new age where China had mastery of the seas.

But after her maiden voyage in 1974, Communist officials realised it cost far too much to power a concrete ship through the waters, and she was driven ashore and grounded.

Too expensive to break up - the Gutian became a squat for locals and a minor tourist attraction - but now she is back in the spotlight after the land she is located on was sold - and the owners announced they wanted to build on it."

More here:

Ship Ashore - Around the World News - Austrian Times Online News - English Newspaper

[S/V Alchemy]

Whether it's fair or not, this has been the fate of most experiments in ferro-concrete.

I've seen a few excellent examples, but most of the "cruiser-sized" ones have been pretty bad.

[Blue Stocking]

The concrete hull is in better shape than the other components

[David M]

Nobody figured for the low strength to weight ratio of concrete. That is all that much more weight to push through the water reducing the total amount of cargo that can be carried for a given displacement.

Fuel burned per cargo ton-mile matters. This is why larger ships are more efficient, you have a higher displacement (cargo weight) to wetted surface area (drag) ratio. A few container ships are larger than modern aircraft carriers now.