What it's really like steering the world's biggest ships

Some of the world's biggest oceangoing vessels seem more like cities at sea than actual ships, so maneuvering these massive beasts -- from cruise ships to container vessels like the one currently blocking the Suez Canal -- is a tricky process fraught peril. This is what it's like to be at the helm of one of these leviathans.

(CNN) — The emergency stop is a familiar maneuver for most motorists. A hazard presents itself in front of the moving vehicle, the driver hits the brakes and grips the steering wheel, the car screeches to a halt, hopefully under full control. But what happens when the vehicle you're driving is the size of a small city and doesn't actually come equipped with brakes? That's the scenario facing those at the helms of the hundreds of gigantic container and cruise ships in our seas and waterways.