Company ... Maersk
New ship order

Maersk Line orders 11 20,000-teu ships from South Korea

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Maersk Line orders 11 20,000-teu ships from South Korea

Maersk Line has placed an order for 11 20,000-teu ships, which will be 1,600-teu larger in capacity than the current Triple E flagships

Maersk Line has confirmed that an order for 11 ultra-large container vessels has been placed with South Korean yard Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), with an option for six more vessels after 2018.

The US $1.8-billion order follows widespread speculation in the industry that the world’s largest shipping line would soon add even larger container ships to its fleet of more than 600 ships globally. The Triple E class ULCSs were first ordered in 2011 and the last of the 20 vessels will be delivered this month.

The new class of container ships, being referred to by Maersk of the 2nd Generation Triple-E vessels, will be delivered to the shipping line between April, 2017 and May, 2018. The 2nd generation mainliners will have a capacity of 19,630 teu, around 1,600-teu more than the Triple Es.

To put this difference in capacity into perspective, it is just 200-teu less than the entire capacity of Mearsk Line’s first ever container ship, Svendborg Mærsk, which was ordered in 1973.

The order is the second newbuilding investment this year in Maersk Line's fleet replenishment program, after the carrier earlier this year placed an order for seven 3,600-teu feeder vessels, all of which will be classed by Lloyd’s.

'I am very happy with this order. These vessels will help us stay competitive in the Asia – Europe trade and will be key in our strategy to grow with the market,' says Maersk Line COO Søren Toft. 'It is the second order this year and we expect to order more vessels, which we can add to our fleet from 2017 and onwards.'

'I am very confident placing this order with DSME,” he added. “The company has a very good track record. Together we can leverage our Triple-E experiences to further improve performance, not least energy efficiency.'

The ships will be deployed on the Asia - Europe service, where they will replace smaller and less efficient vessels and it is likely that we will see such ships calling at Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates from 2017 onwards.