Maersk Orders 10 Triple-E Class 18,000TEU Container Ships
Maersk Line has ordered 10 of the record breaking 18,000 TEU container ships from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd., Korea for delivery 2013 to 2015.There is an option for a further 20 vessels.
Ships of this size, sometimes referred to as “Malaccamax” have been talked about for more than ten years and rumours of the Maersk order have abounded in recent months. Malaccamax refers to the largest ships able to negotiate the Straits of Malacca. Reduced draft was one of several reasons to adopt a twin island design with twin engines powering two smaller diameter propellers rather than one large one (requiring greater depth of water).
This new, giant container vessel class will be known as Triple-E, based on the three main purposes for their creation: Economy of scale, Energy efficiency, Environmentally improved. The new class will have 16 per cent more capacity than Maersk’s present largest Emma Maersk ‘PS Class’ ships. Contributing to the larger container capacity is positioning the engines further aft rather than midships. The dimensions of the new Class is LOA 400m, beam 59 m and height 73 m.
The Triple-E Class design reduces CO2 emissions and features Waste Heat Recovery equipment that will produce 20 percent less CO2 per container moved compared to Emma Maersk and 50 percent less than the industry average on the Asia-Europe trade lane.
Compared to the present largest container ships of around 13,000TEU, the Triple-E Class will offer a fuel saving of approximately 35 per cent per container. Although the maximum speed will be 25 kts, the hull and propulsion systems are designed to profit from slow steaming, rendering fuel consumption benefits of 20 per cent at 22.5 kts, 37 per cent at 20 kts and 50 per cent at 17.5 kts.
Caption: Contributing to the larger container capacity of the Triple-E Class is the positioning
of the engines further aft rather than midships.
Credit: A.P.Moller - Maersk A/S
Caption: Reduced draft was one of several reasons to adopt a twin island design with
twin engines powering two smaller diameter propellers rather than one large one
Credit: A.P.Moller - Maersk A/S
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