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1 What is the Emma Maersk 3?
2 Where is it from?
3 Where is it going?
4 What is on the Emma Maersk 3?
5 Are people happy about this?
Christmas is coming - all the way from China 
by John Vidal
Christmas is coming this year on the biggest ship in the world, on its first voyage from China. Mountains of 
crackers, toys and games as well as decorations, wrapping paper, food and every imaginable gift are on the 
way to Felixstowe, Suffolk, on the Emma Maersk 3. 
If anything happens to this 400m-long, 61 metre-high boat then Christmas might have to be cancelled. 
It is delivering 3,000 giant containers for Britain. These containers have the largest amount of Christmas 
goods ever delivered. Crackers, poker tables, bingo sets, electronic toys and pre-school building blocks will 
be delivered in amazing quantities: 1,886,000 Christmas decorations are loaded in one container, 40,000 
rechargeable batteries and 22,280kg of Vietnam tea in another. In another are 12,800 MP3 players. 
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There are things to cook with, leather sofas to sit on, and pyjamas to go to bed in. Pets will be very happy; 
138,000 tins of catfood and mountains of dogfood are on their way. But the ship and its cargo was the 
subject of an intense argument over the increasing number of imports from China. Caroline Lucas, Green 
Member of European Parliament (MEP) for southeast England, said it was a “microcosm of globalisation 
gone mad”. “All these goods could have been made in Europe,” said Ms Lucas “China now dominates many 
sectors of global trade. The real cost of the goods that the Emma Maersk is bringing in should include the 
environment, the markets destroyed in developing countries and the millions of jobs lost.” Britain exported 
more than GBP 2.8bn of goods to China last year but imported nearly GBP 16bn – 30 times more than in 
1980. The UK is Europe’s third-biggest trading partner with China but represents less than 2% of China’s 
trade with the world. 
The Emma Maersk is carrying about 11,000 containers and is the largest container ship in history. The ship 
left from Yentian port, which now exports around 30,000 containers every day.
Last year Ms Lucas led an EU study into trade with China and was terrified by its implications. “Europe 
made these goods in the past. China is a country that now has a big advantage in more and more sectors. 
This is a triumph for multinational capital. It’s not a triumph for Chinese workers, who suffer from some of the 
worst labour exploitation in the world and are also losing many jobs.” she said. 
The Emma Maersk will soon return to China. It will take back the waste of Christmas. One of Britain’s big-
gest exports to China is now waste plastic - which is made into soft toys and decorations. 
GBP: Great Britain Pounds
bn: billion