Maersk Line orders nine 14,000 TEU container vessels

On 8 July, Maersk Line signed a new building contract with Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI). The order is for 9 (nine) vessels with a capacity of 14,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent) each. The agreement includes an option for up to 8 (eight) additional vessels. The vessels will have a length of 353 meters.
This is the third new-building order in Maersk Line’s investment programme announced in September 2014. The order follows the seven 3,600 TEU feeder vessels and eleven 19,630 TEU Triple-E vessels announced earlier this year as part of Maersk Line’s USD 15 billion investment in new-buildings, retrofitting, containers and other equipment. Maersk Line will thus be able to acquire the capacity it needs, replace less efficient tonnage and increase its share of owned vessels.
Designing vessels with a flexible operational profile is a first for Maersk Line. By moving away from hulls designed with a certain speed and draft in mind, Maersk Line is strengthening its fleet with vessels which can be deployed on East-West or North-South trades where requirements differ, with no impact on fuel consumption.
Since 2002, HHI has delivered more than 50 container vessels to Maersk Line, including 22 WAFMAX vessels (4,500 TEU), which were delivered in 2011-13.
Maersk Line is the world’s largest container shipping company, serving  customers through 374 offices in 116 countries. It employs 7,100 seafarers and 25,500 land-based employees and operate 608 container vessels.
www.maerskline.com