Ships come in all shapes and sizes. From motorized dinghies to yachts; from glorious looking white cruise ships to bulky container ships and tankers. But they all share one quality: their engines seem excessively powerful, yet they still can’t seem to output the speed you would’ve expected from this kind of power.

The reality is the exact opposite of the expectations: a big liner can cross the Atlantic Ocean in a week, but a cargo ship would have to spend more than two weeks to do the same thing. For a plane to go from an airport in Western Europe to New York, for example, it would take only 8 hours. So why do we even use ships if planes are so much faster?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices