According to a report published by TradeWinds, Maersk, the world’s second largest container line, is preparing orders worth approximately $9 billion for up to 42 container ships. It would include a dozen 24,000-TEU vessels, the first time the carrier has ordered ships of that dimension. Maersk itself does not comment traditionally on media reports.
The new orders, all for LNG-powered dual fuel ships, would comprise the 12 24,000-TEU vessels, in addition to contracts for 24 19,000-TEU and six 18,600-TEU ships, according to shipbroking and shipbuilder sources cited by Tradewinds.
Observers consider it is highly likely that the massive container ship order from Maersk will be entirely fulfilled by Chinese shipyards which Maersk has increasingly relied upon for its shipbuilding projects.
Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc recently indicated that Maersk has derived as much growth as possible from its existing fleet. The carrier commented during its second-quarter earnings results in September that it would ensure it has “the capacity to grow.” The results revealed Maersk has a sizeable war chest for fleet expansion, built up over the last several years of healthy earnings and strong freight rates, noted joc.com. Total cash and cash deposits stood at $18.5 billion as of June 30.
Together, the new orders would increase Maersk’s capacity by almost 750,000 TEUs to 5.5 million TEUs, a move that would smash through its long-held, self-imposed ceiling of maintaining total fleet capacity at between 4 million and 4.4 million TEUs. The carrier currently has 4.36 million TEUs of capacity in service, according to Sea-web, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global.
(Maersk photo of LNG-powered Alexandra Maersk)