It’s longer than the Shard is tall and everyone is likely to buy some of the goods it carries.

East Anglian Daily Times: The Shard *** Local Caption *** All images and film footage used will be attributed to: Copyright of The View from The Shard or © The View from The Shard, unless otherwise informed in the library.The Shard *** Local Caption *** All images and film footage used will be attributed to: Copyright of The View from The Shard or © The View from The Shard, unless otherwise informed in the library. (Image: ©2008TIM MOTION/AVRLondon)

The world’s largest ship, the CSCL Globe, will be visiting the Port of Felixstowe early next year.

Its visit to the Suffolk dock is its first sojourn to Europe and the only place it will call at in the UK.

The cargo ship, which is 400 metres long, will carry a variety of consumer goods including food, drink, clothing, electrical goods and furniture from Asia to Europe.

The majority of these goods will be destined to the high street while British-made products will be shipped out on the CSCL Globe and exported to the Far East.

Paul Davey, head of corporate affairs at Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited, which owns the Port of Felixstowe, said: “The arrival of this ship represents a first for the UK.

“It is important economically, the direct call recognises the scale of the UK economy, and economies-of-scale provide the most efficient way to get UK exports to important Asian markets.”

He added that because of the huge variety of goods to be carried on the ship it is likely everyone in the country will buy something which has been carried on the vessel.