Maersk Line orders ice-class containerships - again
Maersk Line signed a new building order for seven 3,600 teu container vessels with Cosco Shipyard Co, based in Zhoushan (China), on 26 March 2015. The ships will be 200 m long, 35.2 m across the beam and have a 10 m draft. Cosco Shipyard and Maersk Line agreed not to disclose the price.
The order is the first step in Maersk Line's investment programme. Over the next five years USD 15 billion will go into building new vessels, a retrofit programme, containers and other equipment. The Danish carrier says that this will enable it to add capacity in line with growth in the global container shipping demand, as well as replace less efficient chartered tonnage.
Maersk Line has ordered the seven newbuildings for Seago Line, its fully-owned container shipping line dedicated to short sea services in Europe and throughout the Mediterranean region. Maersk says that the vessels, built to trade in Northern Europe through sea ice, will achieve unprecedented economies of scale. They will provide Seago Line's short sea and feeder customers with competitive services, also in the winter.
