Container ships are built in increasingly larger sizes to take advantage of economies of scale and reduce costs as part of intermodal freight transport. Container ships are also subject to certain limitations in size . Primarily, these are the availability of large enough main engines and the availability of a sufficient number of ports and terminals prepared and equipped to handle ultra-large container ships. Also, some of the world's main waterways, such as the Suez Canal and the Singapore Strait, restrict the maximum size a ship can pass through.

Finding the world's longest wooden ship is not easy as there are few contenders depending on the definitions used. For example, some of these ships made significant use of iron and even steel components, as flexing of wooden members can lead to significant leaks as the wooden members get longer. Some of these ships were unseaworthy and a few sank either soon after or shortly after launch. Some of the more recent larger ships never managed to leave their docks or were intended to abandon them, and functioned as floating museums. Finally, not all claims to the title of the world's longest wooden ship are convincing or verifiable.

Another problem is that wooden ships in particular have more than one "length". The most commonly used measure of length to record a ship, "length of top deck" - "length on deck" (LOD) - "measured from the leading edge of the stern mast to the trailing edge of the stern mast at deck level" or "Length between perpendiculars" (LPP, LBP) – 'measured from the leading edge of the stem at the construction waterline (CWL) to the trailing edge of the aft post'. In this method of measuring bowsprit, including the outside of the jibboom and spanker boom, both have no effect, if any, on the length of the ship. To compare ships, the longest length, if known, the total "overall" length (LOA) on the basis of common length should be given.