By Mark Edward Nero
Maersk Line on July 8 signed a new building contract with Hyundai Heavy Industries for nine vessels with a capacity of 14,000 TEUs each. The agreement includes an option for up to eight additional vessels.
The vessels will have a length of 353 meters (1,158 feet).
The contract, which has a value of $1.1 billion, was signed by HHI Chief Operating Officer Sam H. Ka and Maersk Line COO Søren Toft during a ceremony at Maersk Line’s Copenhagen headquarters.
This is the third new-building order in Maersk Line’s investment program, which was announced in September 2014. The order follows the seven 3,600 TEU feeder vessels and eleven 19,630 TEU Triple-E vessels announced earlier this year as part of Maersk Line’s $15 billion investment in new-buildings, retrofitting, containers and other equipment.
“I am very pleased about this order for which we have taken a new approach. The vessels will be designed to operate in and perform efficiently across many trades and not just designed for one specific trade. They will help us stay competitive and make our fleet more flexible and efficient,” Toft said.
The nine vessels are expected to join Maersk Line’s fleet in 2017 and sail under Singaporean flag.
Since 2002, HHI has delivered more than 50 container vessels to Maersk Line, including 22 WAFMAX (West Africa Maximum) vessels of 4,500 TEU, which were delivered in 2011-13.
