These big ships bring full containers from the manufacturer nations and on the return trip carry empty containers back. Only one part of the trip is makes money, but enough to pay for return trip as well. https://twitter.com/wolfejosh/status/1305139799699881984

What looks inspiring is also sign of bloated overcapacity, made possible by :-
Overcapacity in steel production
Overcapacity in shipbuilding
Overproduction of primary resource
And over availability of cheap capital that makes everything else possible.

Overcapacity in commercial shipping has also led to bubble in harbour construction. BRI is just one facet of it.
Count the number of times word over is used in this thread.

I am no lefty but model of capitalism is geared towards producing waste. Using everything immediately, to hell with long term consequences.

In days when forestry and fishing were big part nations economy. This kind of behavior lead to deforestation and destruction of many fishing grounds/stock.
Those areas eventually recovered but I don't think earth would recover from this model of business & moneymaking.

Remember that 300 strong Chinese fishing fleet. It'll hoover up fisheries off galapagos. Flash freeze them, take them to China, process it there, load them on freezer containers, put them on such massive containerships, which would sail all the across Indian & Atlantic ocean

And deliver them on American harbor and return with mostly empty containers.
Now just try to imagine amount of fuel that was used to make this entire process possible.
Try and wish as much as we may, but global warming is a ship that has truly sailed off into the distance.

BTW this happens everywhere not just in America, not being anti American just despairing at some bonkers solutions that come out of that country.