Massive ships anchor children's story with Chinese hero

China Daily carried a news story last week about two gigantic ocean transport ships - the largest in the world - being built at a Shanghai shipyard by subsidiaries of China State Shipbuilding Corp.

These muscular modern vessels will be 400 meters long and capable of carrying a breathtaking 220,000 metric tons of cargo. They'll be propelled by liquefied natural gas, and will require only about 30 crew members to operate as they traverse oceans at about 41 kilometers per hour.

The article caught my attention because it dovetailed with research I've done for a series of children's short stories. As I learned, this is not China's first go-around with really big boats.