ITF Unions in Maersk
Another 16 container ships ordered by Maersk
8 July 2008
Sets new capacity record, reverses recent lean new order activity.
Hard on the heels of an order for 18 container vessels, Maersk Line has announced the order for another 16, confirming what the market has known for some time.
The company says it has its sights on the fast-growing South American refrigerated cargo trades. The US$2.3bn order for 16 containerships will smash records for chilled and frozen produce cargo capacity. The vessels each have capacity for 7,450 teu and can carry 1,700 refrigerated containers each – the highest number ever carried on a container vessel.
According to the Lloyd's List newspaper, the vessels will be able to carry the equivalent of 3,400 teu of refrigerated cargo – more than any other container vessels by a long way. The world’s largest container ship, Emma Maersk, has only 1,000 plugs for refrigerated containers.
This is South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering’s largest single containership order from any owner, and is believed to be one of the biggest newbuilding contracts ever placed by Maersk. The ships will be delivered between 2010 and 2012.
Maersk says Brazil and Argentina especially have fast growing consumer markets. In the last five years, the trade between Asia and the east coast of South America has grown more than 20% per year on average. It expects growth to remain in the double digits over the next five years.
The trade is primarily driven by the export of food products such as poultry, meat and fruit transported in refrigerated containers.
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