Maersk orders another 16

Maersk Line reports that parent A.P. Moller–Maersk has signed an agreement with Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering in Korea for the delivery of 16 container vessels in 2010-12. The announcement comes 10 days after the news of Maersk?s 18 ship newbuilding splurge at Hyundai.

The vessels to be built at Daewoo will have a carrying capacity of 7,450 TEU and will have 1,700 reefer plugs which, the company claims, is the highest number ever carried on a container vessel.

Maersk Line says the ships are designed to meet the highest demands for safe and economic transportation of goods in the trade to and from the East Coast of South America. Like the ships just ordered at Hyundai, each vessel will be equipped with a waste heat recovery system which 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.

Maersk Line expects to deploy the 16 vessels in the trades between the East Coast of South America and Asia and Europe. Brazil and Argentina, especially, have fast growing consumer markets and in the last five years trade between Asia and the East Coast of South America has grown more than 20% per year on average. In the next five years, growth is expected to remain in the double digits.

The trade between the East Coast of South America and Europe is primarily driven by the export of food products such as poultry, meat, and fruit transported in refrigerated containers. Since 2002, the trade has grown 15% on a yearly average. This growth is expected to remain strong with increased containerization opportunities in the coming years.