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Maersk Line signed a new building order last week for seven 3,600-TEU container ships with COSCO Shipyard in Zhoushan China, according to a company statement.
Maersk said the vessels would be 656 feet long and 115 feet wide, with a 32.8-foot draft. COSCO Shipyard and Maersk Line have agreed to keep the price confidential.
The order is the first step in the investment program announced by Maersk Line whereby over the next five years, $15 billion will go into new vessel building, a retrofit program, containers and other equipment. Maersk seeks to add capacity in line with the growth in container shipping demand, as well as replace less efficient chartered tonnage.
"I am very happy to announce this new order and the first in our investment program. Our strategy is to grow with the market and to do so we need new
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vessels from 2017," says Søren Toft, COO of Maersk Line. "We expect to place additional orders during 2015."
Maersk Line has ordered the vessels for Seago Line, its fully-owned container line dedicated to short-sea services in Europe and throughout the Mediterranean region.
The vessels, built to trade in Northern Europe through sea ice, will achieve unprecedented economies of scale, Maersk says. They will provide Seago Line short-sea and feeder customers with competitive services, also in the winter. Seago Line will deploy the vessels in the Baltic and North Sea regions.
The vessels will be delivered in April - November 2017, the statement said. The order includes an option for two additional vessels to be ordered within eight months.
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