Maersk Reported In $2 Billion Order for 18,000-TEU Ships

Deal with Daewoo Shipbuilding for 10 ships could double, Reuters reports
Feb.21--A.P. Moller-Maersk placed a $2 billion order for 10 18,000 20-foot equivalent unit container ships with South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, according to published reports, setting a new standard in the rapid escalation in vessel capacity.

The parent of Maersk Line, the world’s largest container ship operator, also is negotiating options for another 10 vessels of the same size, which would take the total value of the contract to $4 billion, according to a report by Reuters out of Hong Kong.

“The deal has been signed and they are preparing details ahead of a public announcement expected next week,” Reuters quoted an unnamed source as saying.

A.P. Moller-Maersk played down the report. “We do not comment on rumors and we have not signed any deal with Daewoo,” a spokesman for the Copenhagen-based company said.

Maersk Line’s North Asia chief executive, Tim Smith, has scheduled a news conference for Monday in Hong Kong to outline the carrier’s plans for Asia.

Reports that Maersk was planning to order ships with almost 4,000 TEUs more capacity than the current largest vessels first surfaced in November.

The Danish carrier launched the era of super-sized container vessels in 2006 with the launch of the Emma Maersk, the first of eight sisterships, whose capacity was officially declared to be 12,500 TEUs but was widely believed to be closer to 14,000 TEUs.