Maersk Line orders 18 new container vessels

Maersk Line announced that A.P. Moller-Maersk has signed an agreement with Hyundai Heavy Industries for the delivery of 18 container vessels in 2011 and 2012. The vessels will each have a capacity of 4,500 TEU.

The ships are designed to meet the highest demands for safe and economic transportation of goods in areas such as the Eastern Mediterranean, Africa, and Latin America.

In addition, each vessel is equipped with a waste heat recovery system. The system reuses excess heat from the exhaust and thus generates energy for propulsion of the vessel or on-board electricity consumption. The reduction in fuel consumption results in a corresponding reduction of emissions. It is the first time that an Asian yard will install a waste heat recovery system of this size and efficiency.

In view of the flexible design of the vessels, Maersk Line will work on a variety of deployment scenarios. Currently, the company expects to deploy the vessels in the trades to and from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Currently, Maersk Line has a 25% market share in Sub-Saharan Africa and own offices in 35 countries in the region. Fixed weekly services operate in most trades delivering excellent schedule integrity in terms of port calls, coverage and timeliness, with transit times for the region among the best available. <Korea Shipping Gazette>