Maersk plans 11,000 TEU newbuildings

The Danish shipping group of A P Moller is rumoured to be considering the construction of the world?s largest container ships with a carrying capacity approaching 11,000 TEU.

This news is linked to a report that Hyundai Heavy Industries has apparently received an order for an 80,080kW 14-cylinder K98 engine to be built under licence to MAN B&W from the Danish group?s Odense Shipyard.

Maerk Sealand currently has a large number of boxships on order at Odense with deliveries stretching to mid 2009, consisting of 14 large post-Panamaxes. The report goes on to state that, instead of specifying an extra wide vessel that many believe would characterise a leap well beyond 10,000 TEU, the shipping company has gone for length.

The design is for a ship with a 360 metre length, a beam of 42.3 metres and a service speed of 26 knots. These dimensions seem to suggest that the newbuilding will have a nominal carrying capacity approaching 11,000 TEUs although, judging from past experience, Maersk Moller will probably claim a capacity of only 9,000 TEUs.

The largest ships contracted at the moment are the 9,600 TEU vessels ordered by Seaspan Container Lines for China Shipping Container Line from Samsung Heavy Industries.