Maersk Sealand to deploy revised version of 6,600-TEU mega-ship
Maersk Sealand has christened a new container vessel with a declared capacity of 6,600 TEUs that is believed to be one of the largest boxships in the world.
The latest in a series of 6,600-TEU vessels built by the A.P. Moller-Maersk group at its Danish shipyard, the “Albert Maersk” is longer than the previous units in the series, with a length of 352 meters (1,156 feet). The previous “S-class” ships were 347-meter (1,138-foot) long. Like its predecessors, the new ship is widely believed to have a nominal capacity approaching 8,000 TEUs rather than 6,600 TEUs as declared by its owners.
Asked whether the ship could carry more cargo than its declared capacity, Capt. P. Sogaard Nielsen, in charge of the new vessel, answered “maybe.”
Officials at Maersk Sealand believe the ship will be able to carry a large number of empty containers back to Asia, whereas ships built earlier were restricted in this respect. Empty containers can be stacked on the deck of the “Albert Maersk” seven tiers high and 17 rows across.
The arrival of the 6,600-TEU “Albert Maersk” follows the recent deliveries of 8,000-TEU-type containerships to both China Shipping Container Lines and CMA CGM. Despite the stated difference in their capacities, all three mega-ships have broadly the same dimensions, including a width of 42.8 meters (140 feet).
Knut Stubkjaer, chief executive officer of Maersk Sealand, said other large containerships with a stated nominal capacity of about 8,000 TEUs cannot actually carry this amount of full containers due to operational restrictions. He said Maersk Sealand is not interested in taking part in some sort of race to be the operator of the largest containerships.
Asked whether very large containerships spending three days or more in port will lengthen the transit times of cargo, Stubkjaer replied: “It depends a little bit on the schedule that you follow; it depends how many boxes you interchange.” For a service that calls only one port in North America, for example Los Angeles, the cargo interchange of a 6,600-TEU ship will be large and “on average it can take a little bit longer than if you have a 3,000-TEU ship.”
“It’s a balancing act between economy, transit time, size of ship and so on,” he added. Yet, Stubkjaer stressed that a port operator can use more container cranes on a ship like the “Albert Maersk” than on smaller vessels. He said up to eight cranes can be used at the same time on such a vessel, so that the productivity per hatch — or longitudinal section — is not much different from that of a shorter, smaller ship.
Although traditionally a secretive company, A.P. Moller-Maersk is using the delivery of its latest big containership as a major public relations exercise. The ship will remain in the port of Copenhagen, moored only a few hundred yards away from A.P. Moller-Maersk headquarters, for about a week. During that time, several hundred customers, suppliers and media representatives, as well as an expected 30,000 members of the general public, are expected to visit the new ship.
“We expect queues to be quite long,” Stubkjaer said.
The new Maersk ship’s design includes a double hull, included for safety reasons, and recent information technology systems that did not feature in the earlier versions. It has a minimum crew of 13 and was christened by Gaier N. Palmisano, wife of Samuel J. Palmisano, CEO and chairman of IBM. The vessel will be deployed in the Asia/Europe trade by Maersk Sealand.
Maersk Sealand has not commented on press reports that it may be planning to build larger ships of about 12,000 TEUs.
At present, the largest vessels on order are 9,600-TEU ships due to be built for China Shipping Container Lines.