Danish shipper Moller-Maersk, the biggest container carrier in the world on Monday that it has signed a contract for a South Korean shipyard to build it 10 giant container ships over the next three years.
Earlier in Seoul, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, the country’s second largest shipbuilder, said it would sign the contract for the ships, each with a capacity of 18,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) containers.
“The new vessels will not just set a new benchmark for size; in addition, they will ensure Maersk Line reaches its goals at the lowest possible cost,” Moller-Maersk said in a statement.
The new container vessels, at 400m long, 59m wide and 73m tall, will be “the largest vessel of any type known to be in operation,” but emit half as much carbon dioxide as the industry average for Asia/Europe trade, the statement added.
“One of the biggest challenges we face in the world today is how to meet the growing needs of a growing population and while minimizing the impact that is going to have on our planet,” said Maersk Line chief executive Eivind Kolding.
Maersk Line has signed a contract for 10 of the world’s largest, most efficient container vessels with an option to buy another 20.
The vessels will have a capacity of 18,000 TEU and will be delivered from Korea’s DSME shipyard from 2013 to 2015.
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