The Danish shipping group A.P. Møller-Maersk is once again stepping up with newbuilds: 20 LNG ships with a total capacity of 300,000 TEU have been ordered from three shipyards in Asia.
The company has now announced that this will implement the fleet renewal plan announced in August of this year. “These orders are in line with our commitment to decarbonisation,” says Anda Cristescu, Head of Chartering & Newbuilding at Maersk.
All 20 ships will be equipped with dual-fuel propulsion systems for the use of LNG. The first ships will be delivered in 2028 and the last takeover will not take place until 2030. According to the information provided, they will replace older units in the fleet.
Maersk renews the fleet
Specifically, this involves two freighters with 9,000 TEU, which will be built at Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (China). Six newbuildings with 17,000 TEU each will also come from there. Hanwha Ocean (South Korea) is also building twelve units of 15,000 TEU each.
“Due to their different sizes, the ships will be able to fulfil many tasks and functions in our future network, and they offer us great flexibility,” says Cristescu.
Maersk will join forces with Hapag-Lloyd in the Gemini Cooperation from February next year. The Hamburg-based company recently placed a major newbuilding order for 24 ships with a total value of up to US$5.25bn.
In comparison with their competitors, both shipping companies had been reluctant to place orders for a long time. Maersk, the No. 2 in global liner shipping by a clear margin behind MSC, previously had 34 ships with 475,000 TEU in its order book. This corresponded to just under 11% of the existing fleet.
For Hapag-Lloyd, the industry service Alphaliner lists 35 ships with 467,000 TEU. That is a good 20% of the fleet underway.
