All language subtitles for Building Giants Series 3 Part 4 Worlds Biggest Cargo Ship 1080p

Narrator: In south korea,

This elite team
of marine engineers

Is embarking
on an epic endeavor.

♪

They're attempting to build
the biggest container ship

In the world.

Stretching over 1,300 feet long

And capable of carrying
a colossal 23,000

Shipping containers,

They are pushing to complete
this record-breaking vessel

In just 12 months.

To build this behemoth,

The team must battle
massive loads...

[ laughs ]

Narrator:
...Terrifying heights...

...And punishing deadlines.

This ship ranks in a league

Of ambitious
new engineering wonders

That are bigger, faster,

Taller, and more advanced

Than anything
ever constructed before.

This is the inside story of the
extraordinary challenge

Of building these giants.

♪

-- Captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

♪

Narrator: Every year,
over 5,000 giant ships

Cross the world's oceans,

Stacked high
with containers full of goods.

These monster vessels
transport everything

From sports cars
and computers

To soft toys
and refrigerated foods.

Now global shipping giant msc

Is embarking on an ambitious
$1.8 billion plan

To build a brand-new breed
of super ship.

At the company's headquarters
in sorrento, Italy,

Giuseppe gargiulo is in charge
of overseeing

The construction
of this fleet of mammoth ships.

There are very good reasons
to build

This revolutionary
new mega-fleet.

Vessels will be cheaper
and more efficient to operate.

♪

This is the colossal ship
the team must build.

Measuring over 1,300 feet
in length,

It is longer than
an aircraft carrier.

55,000 tons of metal panel
make up its hull.

A single, giant
34-foot-wide propeller

Thrusts the ship forwards.

This is powered by
a three-story, 2,700-ton engine

That produces a staggering
101,000 horsepower.

A revolutionary stacking system
supports containers

Over 100 feet high
above the deck.

It will transport
23,000 containers,

The most ever carried
by one ship.

Building a ship this big
will be a huge challenge.

The vessel's massive hull

Will push the limits
of marine construction.

This fleet will include
11 ships in total.

The first of this new breed
of mega-ship

Will be called the msc gulsun,
meaning to smile.

This is how they'll do it.

♪

Engineers plan to construct
the colossal ship in sections

Which they weld together,

Expanding the ship
piece by piece.

♪

Next, they lift in the giant
2,700-ton engine.

It's too large to install
in one piece,

So they split it
into four parts,

Then bolt it back together once
it's positioned within the ship.

The team attaches the mighty
34-foot propeller

To the prop shaft
with a metal cap.

Finally, they bolt on 27
50-foot-high steel supports

To hold up the ship's
13-high stack of containers.

With these in place,
the largest container ship

The world has ever seen
is ready to set sail.

♪

To undertake this mammoth build,

Giuseppe's team is working with
marine engineers in south korea.

This shipyard on the island
of geoje

Is one of the largest maritime
construction sites in the world.

♪

It sprawls across an area
of 988 acres...

♪

...Employs 10,000 staff,

And even has its own
bus service.

The team here has to build
the gigantic msc gulsun

In just one year.

♪

Work starts inside
this cavernous

410,000-square-foot workshop.

The team build the ship
piece by piece

Out of 300 enormous sections
called blocks.

To make these, their first
challenge is to create vast

72-by-26-foot
rectangular steel sheets.

Overseeing
the assembly is jim man kim.

He starts with the largest
steel sheets available.

But to make this side
of the first giant block,

They must weld
four sheets together.

To do this marathon job,
mr. Kim uses

A robotic submerged arc welder.

♪

It operates 30 times faster
than a human worker.

The machine feeds wire
into the joint,

Then uses an electric current

To superheat the metal,
melting it.

This forms an ultra-strong bond.

Yeah, so...

♪

Narrator:
The welds are complete.

This sheet of steel is now
in one huge 72-by-26-foot piece.

♪

Next...

Kim's team uses
the expansive sheet of metal

To form a block.

Once complete, they transport
the block to the quayside,

Where they weld it together
with four other blocks

Like a giant metal jigsaw.

This is called a mega block,
a colossal slice of the ship.

Workers then lower the 67 mega
blocks into the dry dock,

Starting with its keel.

They must place this mega block
in exactly the right position

To make sure the rest
of the ship is true.

♪

It takes 5 months to complete
the first mega block.

It weighs a massive 923 tons.

Now the team must move it
to the dock,

Where they will assemble
all 67 mega blocks

That make up the ship.

But it's over 1,500 feet
from its destination.

This perilous journey will test
both humans and machines.

♪

Narrator: At this mega shipyard
in south korea,

Workers are in a race

To build the world's
biggest container ship.

They've completed the first
923-ton steel mega block

That will form part
of the ship's hull.

Now they must transport it
over 1,500 feet

And lower it into this
enormous dry dock

Where the vessel
will be assembled.

♪

An ordinary crane stands
no chance of moving

And lifting such a massive load,

So they plan to use this --

The goliath gantry crane.

It soars 300 feet high

And is capable of lifting

And transporting
almost 1,000 tons.

The man in charge of
this colossal machine

Is chang-ho baek.

[ beeping ]

He works 80 floors up
from this office in the sky,

And takes great pride
in his role at the yard.

Given mr. Baek's 25 years
of experience,

He understands the gravity of
lifting such a heavy mega block.

16 cables secure the keel
to the crane.

[ speaks korean ]

Narrator:
They soon have liftoff.

[ whirring ]

Mr. Baek's crane has wheels
that run on tracks

That line the dockside.

But guiding this giant block

Through the bustling people
and machinery

To reach the dry dock
won't be easy.

It will take
mr. Baek 30 minutes

To slowly move the mega block
into position.

Halfway into
the 1,500-foot journey,

He runs into trouble.

[ beeping, alarm wailing ]

[ murmurs ]

Narrator: This stationary crane
blocks his path.

He needs to carefully raise
and slide the block

To maneuver it
around this obstacle.

♪

It takes mr. Baek
five precarious minutes

To slalom the block
through the obstacle course.

♪

The mega block hovers 50 feet
above the drop zone

On the dry dock floor.

Now mr. Baek faces the toughest
stage of the whole move.

He must lower
the 200-foot-wide block down

So it lands
in precisely the right spot.

Getting this wrong
could misalign the rest

Of the nearly
1,300-foot-long ship.

The team down in the dock
must act as mr. Baek's eyes

On the ground...

[ speaks korean ]
...Using radios to guide him

So the block lands
smoothly on these supports.

♪

[ metal thuds ]

They hit the target perfectly.

It's a big milestone.

[ speaking korean ]

[ applause ]

But time is of the essence.

In 12 weeks, this dry dock
will be flooded

With more than
150 million gallons of water,

And the ship must be watertight
and ready to float.

This is the plan
for the next stage of the build.

With the 67 pre-built
mega blocks in place,

The team
will weld them together.

[ crackling ]

[ thud ]

They'll carefully lift
each mega block into position

And then fuse them
together one by one.

The ship grows section
by section...

[ clanking, crackling ]

...Until the gargantuan hull
is complete.

♪

It takes 4 weeks
for the team to assemble

30 of the mega blocks that
make up the body of the vessel.

Now, halfway through
the yearlong build,

Hull supervisor duk-gun kim
works with dy yang

To undertake a series
of critical checks

On a vital part of the ship
called the ballast tanks.

Surprisingly, these sections
of the hull must keep water in

Instead of keeping it out.

The ballast tanks are essential
for this giant ship

To remain upright at port.

♪

Container ships usually visit
several ports on each journey,

Loading and unloading only part
of their cargo at each stop.

This can make the load uneven
and unbalance the ship.

The 34 ballast tanks
inside the ship's hull

Are designed
to counteract this disaster.

As the ship becomes unstable,

A pump transfers water
between the vast ballast tanks

Positioned on either side.

The weight of the water
counteracts

The uneven weight
of the containers,

Keeping the ship level.

This ingenious system
frees dock workers to load

And unload cargo
without capsizing the ship.

At least, that's the plan.

♪

Now they have to turn it
into a reality.

Any faults could cause
this mammoth ship to sink.

♪

♪

Narrator: In south korea,
a team of engineers

Is building the biggest
container ship in the world.

Hull supervisors
dg kim and dy yang

Are making sure
that the ballast tanks,

Vast containers for water

That stabilize the ship,
are sealed tight.

To do this, they perform
a simple but effective test.

They pump pressurized air
into a finished tank

And cover the welds
in soapy water.

♪

Any air escaping through holes

Would cause large
expanding bubbles to appear.

They check every single one
of the 95-foot-long tank welds.

♪

This tank is sealed tight

And ready to help
the ship stay afloat.

But with 33 more tanks to check,
kim and yang

Still have a big job
ahead of them.

♪

It's 7 months
into the yearlong build.

All 67 mega blocks of
the ship's hull

Are now welded tight.

A ship this big needs
a power source to match,

And the msc gulsun's engine

Is one of the biggest
in the world.

♪

This is the man g95
diesel engine.

This enormous engine has
more than 100,000 horsepower,

The equivalent to over 100
nascar race cars.

♪

The ship's engine is a giant
in its own right,

Weighing 2,700 tons.

It's so big, workers can't
install it all at once.

To solve this problem,

Engineers must break it down
into four interlocking parts.

They lift in the two sections
that make up the engine's base.

Next, they install
the huge middle section

That contains the frame box

That keeps the
engine's components together.

Finally, they bolt
on the top section,

Capping the engine's supersized
17-foot-long cylinders.

They must connect each
part perfectly.

Even a slight misalignment could
create dangerous vibrations

When the engine is running.

♪

It's the day of the engine's
big move.

In charge of preparations is
engine supervisor jung-woo shin.

♪

First, workers place
the 550-ton

Rear section
of the engine base,

Then quickly
install the front section.

♪

[ rattling ]

They lock it together,
forming a solid foundation.

♪

♪

But the next section of engine

Is twice the size of the last.

And in a build
this complicated,

Every inch counts.

[ shouting in korean ]

[ clangs ]

♪

Narrator: At this shipyard
in south korea,

Workers are racing to build

The largest container ship
in the world.

They've moved the base of its
2,700-ton engine into position.

Today, they must lift

The enormous
middle section of the engine.

♪

7:30 a.M. --

Before the rigors of
ship-building can start...

[ speaking korean ]

[ all clap ]

...The yard workers participate
in morning exercises.

[ speaking korean ]

[ speaking korean,
clapping ]

♪

Narrator:
This section of engine

Is 75 feet long
and must be moved in one piece.

It will be a tight squeeze

Guiding this enormous
engine section down

Through the interior
of the ship,

Where builders are still
constructing the engine room.

The massive engine glides down
into the belly of the ship,

With just inches to spare on
either side.

♪

But 10 feet from touchdown...

[ shouting in korean ]

Narrator: ...These scaffolding
support bars

Block the engine's descent.

The 595-ton middle section
is stuck in midair.

If they try to force
it down now,

They could damage the engine,
putting the build back weeks.

[ man speaks korean ]

Narrator: Workers scramble
to remove the blockage.

They cut the scaffolding bars

And bend them away
from the engine's path.

The move is back on.

♪

Down it goes...

♪

[ clangs ]

...Safe and in one piece.

♪

Installing the ship's engine
is a big milestone for the team.

♪

♪

But the engine alone will not
make this mega ship move.

The linchpin of any great vessel
is its propeller.

The propeller on this ship will
be one of the world's biggest.

Its design is overseen here
in sorrento, Italy.

The more efficient
the propeller,

The less fuel the ship will use.

But with such a big engine
turning it,

The propeller must be tough
enough to withstand

Monumental forces.

♪

Giuseppe's team has designed
a totally unique propeller.

He has given it six blades
instead of the conventional five

To reduce the amount of stress
on each blade as it turns.

[ creaking, rumbling ]

This means he can lengthen
each blade to 17 feet

To make the propeller
much more powerful.

Finally, they fine-tune
the shape,

Thickness, and angle
of the blades,

Maximizing their efficiency
and power.

This one-of-a-kind propeller
will quickly and efficiently

Drive the 70,000-ton mega ship
around the world

For the next 30 years.

Building such a huge propeller
will be no simple task.

Giuseppe works with the world's
leading propeller foundry,

Mecklenburger metallguss,
in germany.

Their managing director
is lars greitsch.

Lars' team will cast
this giant propeller

As one massive piece of metal.

To build this $880,000
propeller,

Lars' team must first fabricate
this 40-foot concrete mold.

Next, the team takes
an entire night

To heat a mixture of copper,
aluminum, nickel, and iron

To 2,000 degrees.

This makes bronze.

The metal alloy will make
the propeller strong

And resistant
to corrosive seawater.

They move the bronze
into position,

Ready for the big pour
into the concrete mold.

This is the most critical moment
for any propeller.

Narrator: In germany,

Engineers are casting
the mammoth propeller

That will power the biggest
container ship in the world.

♪

Lars' team must fill the mold
in one continuous pour.

If they stop at any point,

The impurities floating on top
of the molten bronze

Could become trapped
in the interior of the propeller

And cause structural weakness.

♪

It takes 15 minutes
to fill the mold

In one intensive nonstop pour.

The team must now wait one week
for the metal to cool.

♪

The raw cast propeller spans
a vast 34 feet wide.

The team must now shape
its blades

To precisely match
giuseppe's designs.

To do this, they use a special

Robotically aided
grinding machine.

[ whirring ]

♪

It takes weeks to shape
and polish the blades.

They then ship
the completed propeller

More than 5,000 miles
to south korea.

♪

With the massive propeller
on-site, the team in south korea

Must now position it
onto the ship's prop shaft.

With a tolerance of just
a fraction of an inch

To work with,

This is an incredibly
challenging operation.

To install the giant
129-ton propeller,

The team must first
carefully crane it into position

And slide the prop shaft through
the hole in the propeller.

Engineers then use powerful
hydraulic pumps

To force the propeller even
further back towards the ship.

The fit is so tight that
the force of friction alone

Locks the propeller
into place.

Finally, with the propeller
secured,

The team seals it in position
with a 2.7-ton,

6 1/2-foot wide cap.

With the propeller safely
on the shaft,

Now the team must lock it
tightly into place.

This is a key moment
in the build...

Twenty-one.
Twenty-one.

Twenty-one.

Narrator: ...That's overseen by
expert engineer jessica brun.

Jessica works for
an international organization

That monitors the quality
of ship manufacturing.

It's her job to sign off
on vital parts of the build.

[ speaking korean ]

Narrator:
This record-breaking vessel

Can't leave the shipyard
without jessica's approval.

[ laughs ]

Narrator: The team uses giant
hydraulic pumps

To push the propeller
up the shaft.

Once the propeller is locked,
it will not move on the shaft.

They use a micrometer to
check the propeller's position.

...81, huh?
Yeah, yeah.

...81.
Yeah.

Narrator: The mighty
129-ton propeller

Is in position
and locked tight.

Jessica can sign it off
as seaworthy.

♪

Narrator: With the engine
and propeller in position,

The team faces one final
major construction challenge.

They must build the complex
system of beams

And supports that holds
the containers in position.

♪

This mega ship
will hold a record-breaking

23,000 containers.

♪

Below deck,
the ship will carry

9,788 in stacks 12 high.

♪

But the real difference
lies above deck.

Here, superstrong steel frames

Called lashing bridges
span the hull.

These have special fixtures
called lashing rods

To secure stacks of containers
that soar 13 stories high.

[ creaking ]

♪

That's two stories taller than
on most other container ships.

♪

Today, a new delivery
of lashing bridges

Arrives on-site
from the factory 25 miles away.

The msc gulsun will have 27 rows
of lashing bridges.

Each weighs 132 tons.

The team must install
these bridges

Onto a 100-foot-high platform.

♪

Narrator: In south korea,

Workers race to build the
world's biggest container ship.

They've completed the hull
and installed the propeller.

Now, they must fit
the lashing bridges

That secure the containers
to the ship.

They tower 50 feet tall
and are 200 feet wide.

Mr. Yong-wan chung is gearing up
to install bridge number eight.

The team must stand on
this narrow platform

To guide it down into position.

Any miscalculation could end
in disaster.

So the team uses harnesses
and clips on to safety lines.

The mighty 300-foot-high
goliath gantry crane

Takes the weight
of bridge number eight.

To make this precarious
challenge even more difficult,

The team must guide
this 132-ton chunk of metal

Into position by hand.

♪

After a dizzying descent...

♪

...The bridge is down.
[ clanks ]

♪

Chung's team welds the lashing
bridge in place

And secures it
for the life of the vessel.

♪

After 12 weeks of intense
construction,

The hull, engine, and deck
are all complete.

♪

Now the moment of truth
for the build team --

Will the ship float?

The team plans to
flood the dry dock with water

At 12:30 a.M.
To launch the vessel.

As night falls,
the tension is palpable

For vessel supervisor
byump-cheol jung.

[ laughs ]

♪

Narrator: With water set
to flood the dock,

Every weld must be sealed tight,
and the ship must be balanced,

Or after nearly a year
of grueling work,

This ship
won't be deemed seaworthy.

♪

This is the crucial moment

They've been working
towards for 3 months.

♪

The pumps open,

And the dry dock fills

With over
150 million gallons of seawater.

♪

With a nerve-racking wobble,

In just 4 hours,

The ship lifts up

Off its supports.

♪

♪

Day breaks to reveal that
the massive ship floats,

No leaks, no damage.

♪

It's a huge moment
for the entire team.

After a long night,
bc jung is tired but happy.

...The floating.
Actually...

♪

It takes a fleet of three
tugboats to carefully guide

The 60,000-ton ship
out of the dry dock

To a special quay where the team
can add the finishing touches.

♪

Over the next 4 months,
the teams build and install

The ship's innovative
exhaust system...

♪

...The bridge...

The living accommodations
for the crew,

And wire it up with more than
222 miles of electrical cabling.

They complete this work 12 days
ahead of schedule.

♪

In just under 12 months,

The team has built the world's
largest container ship.

Hello, morning.
How are you?

Giuseppe gargiulo has traveled
from Italy

For a well-earned celebration,

And to officially
name the ship

The msc gulsun,
meaning "to smile."

[ applause ]

Narrator:
The msc gulsun sets off,

Bound for eastern china,

Where it will receive
its first load of containers,

Traveling more than 3 million
miles over her life span.

Ten more ships just like her

Will be delivered
in the next year

Carrying over a quarter
of a million containers

Between them,

Transporting the world's goods
as efficiently as possible.