Maersk Line has signed a contract for an additional 10 Triple-E ships following an order four months ago for 10 of the same ships, the world’s largest and most efficient container vessels.
The Copenhagen-based container shipping line said the orders are intended to meet growing demand and maintain market share on the Asia-Europe trade.
The contract signed on June 27 followed an order in February this year to Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering to build 10 Triple-E vessels, with two options of an additional 10 ships per option.
Maersk exercised one of its options with the new order, but said that it will not use the second option yet. The shipping line said, however, that no final decision would be made about the last option before it expires on December 31 this year.
“We now have 20 Triple-E on order,” said Eivind Kolding, CEO of Maersk Line. “They underline our strong commitment to the Asia-Europe trade and fit well with our current ambitions and expectations for the future development of the trade.”
Maersk expects an increase in demand on the Asia-Europe trade from 5 percent to 8 percent per year from 2011 to 2015.
The first 10 vessels are scheduled for delivery in 2013 and 2014, and the second 10 vessels, in 2014 and 2015.
Maersk said the Triple-E class is so named for the three main purposes behind its creation—economy of scale, energy efficiency and environmentally improved—and will set a new industry benchmark for size and fuel efficiency.
The Triple-E at 400 meters long, 59 meters wide and 73 meters high is the largest vessel of any type on the water today. The company said its 18,000 twenty-foot container capacity is 16 percent greater than Emma Maersk, the largest container vessel now afloat.
The Triple-E will produce 20 percent less carbon dioxide per container compared to Emma Maersk, and 50 percent less than the industry average on the Asia-Europe trade lane, according to Maersk.
The company also said the Triple-E will consume about 35 percent less fuel per container than the 13,100 TEU vessels to be delivered to other container shipping lines in the next few years, also for the Asia-Europe service.
