I think there is a typo on the load. 26 tons is 52,000 #, pretty sure it was much more than that.
The song says 26,000 - 26 THOUSAND tons - or 52 MILLION pounds. My old TI calculator is maxed-out on digits.
Yeah, it should be 26 THOUSAND tons. If you know anything at all about ships that error jumps out at you, 26 tons is peanuts to a ship. Tennessee Ernie Ford sang about 16 tons being loaded by one man in one shift in the coal mine. I’m an old man and I moved several tons in one little light weight workout in the gym already today. I weigh almost one eighth of a ton.