MS Vale Brasil is the first of seven 400,000-ton very large ore carriers (VLOC) ordered by Vale and she was launched in December 2010.

In 2008 Vale placed orders for twelve 400,000-ton Valemax ships to be constructed by Jiangsu Rongsheng Heavy Industries (RSHI) in China and ordered seven more ships from South Korean Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) in 2009.  Additionaly sixteen more ships of similar size will be built in China and South Korea for other shipping companies, and chartered to Vale under long-term contracts.

MS Vale Brasil is significantly larger than the previous world's largest bulk carrier Berge Stahl in every aspect. Both her gross tonnage and deadweight tonnage are larger than those of the Norwegian ship, 175,720 and 364,767 tons, respectively. While the draught of both ships is the same, Vale Brasil is also 20 metres (65.6 ft) longer and 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) wider than Berge Stahl. Additionaly Vale Brasil is larger and slightly longer than the four new 388,000-ton, 361-metre (1,184 ft) Chinamax bulk carriers Berge Bulk has ordered from China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation.

MS Vale Brasil is also the second largest ship currently in service by deadweight tonnage, second only to the TI class supertankers that have a deadweight tonnage of over 440,000 tons.

5. Cruiser - Oasis Class Cruise Ships

The world's largest cruise ships(and passenger ships in general) are Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas. These ships belong to Royal Caribbean's Oasis class formerly known as Project Genesis.

General Characteristics
Tonnage:	225,282 GT
Length:	360 m (1,181 ft)
Beam:	47 m (154 ft) waterline; 60.5 m (198 ft) extreme
Draught:	9.3 m (31 ft)
Capacity:	5,400 passengers at double occupancy; 6,296 maximum (+ 2,394 crew members)
Speed:	22.6 knots (41.9 km/h; 26.0 mph)

Both ships were ordered in February 2006 at STX Europe shipyard in Turku, Finland.

Oasis and Allure of the Sea

First in a series, Oasis of the Seas, was completed and turned over to Royal Caribbean on 28 October 2009. Her sistership, Allure of the Seas, left the Turku shipyard on 29 October 2010.

Oasis of the Seas

Althought those two ships have identical superstructures, the Allure is 50 millimetres (2.0 in) longer than the Oasis, which is making her technically the largest cruise ship in the world.

Allure of the Seas

Allegedly, with the building costs of € 900 million (US$1.24 billion), the Oasis of the Seas is the most expensive commercial ship ever built.

Oasis of the Seas

The Oasis class have surpassed the earlier Freedom class as the world's largest passenger ships. At 360 m (1,181 feet) in length Oasis is 21 metres (69 ft) longer than the prior largest passenger ship, the Independence of the Seas and classmates. Oasis also is 8.5 metres (28 ft) wider, and with a gross tonnage of 225,282, is almost 45% larger.

Freedom of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas

 

 Fourteen Q-Max ships have been built: Mozah, Al Mayeda, Mekaines, Al Mafyar, Umm Slal, Bu Samra, Al-Ghuwairiya, Lijmiliya, Al Samriya, Al Dafna, Shagra, Zarga, Aamira and Rasheeda. They are all operated by Nakilat (Qatar Gas Transport Company) and they were built by three different builders: Samsung Heavy Industries, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.

In their name Q-Max, "Q" stands for Qatar and "Max" for the maximum size of ship able to dock at the LNG terminals in Qatar.

The first Q-Max LNG carrier, Mozah, was built in November 2007. The naming ceremony was held on 11 July 2008 at Samsung Heavy Industries' shipyard in South Korea.

The first trip by a Q-Max tanker was completed by Mozah itself on 11 January 2009, when the tanker delivered 266,000 cubic metres of LNG to the Port of Bilbao BBG Terminal. Days before, the vessel had transited the Suez Canal for the first time.

The ship was named the Queen Mary 2 by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004 after the first RMS Queen Mary, completed in 1936. The Queen Mary was in turn named after Mary of Teck, consort of King George V. With the retirement of Queen Elizabeth 2 from active duty in 2008, the Queen Mary 2 is currently the only transatlantic ocean liner in service running between Southampton and New York, although the ship is often used for cruising, including an annual world cruise.

The Queen Mary 2 was intended primarily to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and was therefore designed differently from many other passenger ships.

In 2003, at the time of her construction, the Queen Mary 2 was the longest, widest, and tallest passenger ship ever built, and with her gross tonnage of 148,528 also the largest. She no longer holds this distinction after the construction of Royal Caribbean International's 225,282 GT MS Oasis of the Seas in October 2009.

Although newer cruise ships are larger, the Queen Mary 2 remains the largest ocean liner (as opposed to cruise ship) ever built.

USS Enterprise has been built by Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company and she is in commission since 25 November 1961. Like her predecessor of World War II fame, she is nicknamed the "Big E". At 342 m  (1,123 ft), she is the longest naval vessel in the world. Her 93,284 long tons (94,781 t) displacement ranks her as the 11th-heaviest supercarrier, after the 10 carriers of the Nimitz class. Enterprise has a crew of some 4,600 people.

The only ship of her class, Enterprise is the second-oldest vessel in commission in the United States Navy, after the wooden-hulled, three-masted frigate USS Constitution. Enterprise is also the only aircraft carrier to house more than two nuclear reactors. This was due to the ready availability of a field-proven production design developed for nuclear submarines. She is the only carrier with four rudders, two more than other classes, and features a more cruiser-like hull.

Enterprise was meant to be the first of a class of six, but construction costs ballooned and the remaining vessels were never laid down.

She was originally scheduled for decommissioning in 2014 or 2015, depending on the life of her reactors and completion of her replacement, USS Gerald R. Ford. But the National Defence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 slated the ship's retirement for 2013, when she will have served for 51 consecutive years, longer than any other U.S. aircraft carrier.

9. Sailing Vessel - SS Great Eastern

The world's largest sailing vessel was SS Great Eastern designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and built in 1858 on the Thames River, England. Iron sailing steam ship was intended for the passenger and cargo trade between England and Ceylon.

General Characteristics
Tonnage:	18,915 GT
Length:	211 m (692 ft)
Beam:	25 m (82 ft)
Capacity:	4,000 passengers
Speed:	14 knots (26 km/h)

SS Great Eastern was by far the largest ship ever built at the time of her 1858 launch, and had the capacity to carry 4,000 passengers around the world without refuelling. She was so far ahead of contemporary commercial requirements, and industrial capabilities, that her length (nearly 700 feet) and tonnage would remain unmatched for four more decades.

SS Great Eastern

She was christened Leviathan during a initial launching attempt in early November 1857, she was thereafter always known as Great Eastern. Nearly three months costly struggle to get her afloat, and more problems while she was completing, left her original company bankrupt. New owners decided to employ her on the route between Britain and North America. The ship financial difficulties continued, compounded by a series of accidents.

In September 1859 Great Eastern's first voyage was cut short by a boiler explosion. Her second company collapsed under the expense of repairs and a new firm took her on. Finally reaching New York in June 1860, for the next two months she was exhibited to the public and made voyages along the U.S. coast. Nearly a year passed before Great Eastern's next westbound trip in May 1861, by which time the American Civil War had begun. During June and July she transported troops to Quebec to reinforce Canada's defences. In September Great Eastern began another trip to New York, but was disabled by a severe storm. In mid-1862 she made three voyages, but improving commercial prospects abruptly ceased when she struck an uncharted rock entering New York harbour, necessitating more expensive repairs. She did not resume service until mid-1863, making two more trips and bankrupting yet another company.

Sold at auction, Great Eastern was chartered for laying a trans-Atlantic telegraph cable. The ship finally found her niche. In 1866 Great Eastern brought a cable to North America, establishing nearly instantaneous communication between the Old World and the New that has remained unbroken ever since. Following a unfruitful effort by French interests to put her back into passenger service in 1867, Great Eastern returned to cable work. Between 1869 and 1874 she strung six more cables from Europe to America, repaired two earlier ones, and laid another across the Indian Ocean.

SS Great Eastern

Great Eastern was laid up at Milford Haven, Wales in 1874. In 1886 she steamed to Liverpool to become an exhibition ship. This prosaic, but profitable employment continued during visits to London and Scotland later in the year. Sold late in 1887, Great Eastern went back to Liverpool, where she was stripped and slowly broken up during 1888 and 1889.

SS Great Eastern beached for breaking up

Trivia: largest sailing vessel still operating - Club Med 2

The Club Med 2 is a five-masted computer-controlled sailing ship owned and operated by Club Med and operated as a cruise ship.

General Characteristics
Tonnage:	14,983 Tons
Length:	194 m (636 ft)
Beam:	20 m (66 ft)
Draught:	5.09 m (17 ft)
Capacity:	386 passengers ( + 214 crew members)
Speed:	10–15 knots (19–28 km/h)

She combines the power of seven computer-operated sails with more traditional diesel-electric power, having four diesel generators that power two electric motors.

The Club Med 2 was launched in 1992 in Le Havre, France. Its sister ship the Club Med 1 was sold to Windstar Cruises and renamed msy Wind Surf in 1998.

The ship, one of the largest sailing cruise ships in the world, carrying up to 386 passengers with a crew of 214, sails the waters of the Mediterranean and Adriatic Sea in the summertime, and the Caribbean in the winter, finding its way into anchorages larger cruise ships cannot reach.

The ship provides ballroom dancing, bridge and music, and sails at night making a stop each morning. A water sports deck can be deployed from the stern. The Club Med 2's European destinations include ports in the Mediterranean, Adriatic, and Aegean Sea. Transatlantic voyages are offered in the spring (eastbound) and fall (westbound).