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18 new container vessels confirmed for Maersk Line
2 July 2008
Up to 34 anticipated by the market for US$3.5bn.
Maersk Line confirmed it has ordered 18 new vessels from Hyundai Heavy Industries for delivery in 2011 and 2012. The vessels will each have a capacity of 4,500 TEU.
Trade paper Trade Winds reported earlier in June that the company was to order up to 34 container ships at a total price tag of US$3.5bn. As well as the Hyundai order, 16 ships (7,500 TEU) are to be ordered from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, it reported.
Maersk says it expects to deploy the 18 vessels in the trades to and from Sub-Saharan Africa.
Michel Deleuran, Head of Network & Product in Maersk Line says: “Today, Maersk Line has a 25% market share in Sub-Saharan Africa and own offices in 35 countries in the region… During the last 50 years, container transportation has been a key driver in globalisation.
“Our business is about connecting the globe and we believe globalisation based on fair and free trade is a winning proposition for Sub-Saharan Africa. Every day, our efforts and services contribute to improving world trade and thereby the living standards of people around the world.”
But this view of globalisation is not widely shared in the union movement. Ron Carver, Deputy Director of the Teamsters Port Division, says: “Globalization has the potential for improving people’s lives or abusing them. It is up to our unions to hold industry leaders like Maersk and their subcontractors to the high standards they operate under in Denmark and other developed economies.”
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