Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller is The World´s Largest Container Ship

When it comes to container ships, Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller is the World’s largest afloat.  The Maersk line has been undergoing some pretty impressive changes this past year or so, and it is no wonder why the global container shipping industry is getting so much press.  If you can imagine, this vessel is an incredible 1,309 feet in length and 194 feet wide, with a cargo capacity of a little more than 18,000 TEU (twenty foot equivalent containers.)  That’s a lot of ship.  Her sister ships, which are already afloat and many more being built, match the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller’s length, width and capacity.  With only being less than 10 feet longer and only  3 feet wider, the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller and other new Triple E ships can haul an additional 2500 containers, making these new additions to the Maersk Line; the largest container vessels in the world.

Several articles have been written about Maersk Line’s decision to, not only have ten Triple E’s built, but also to give the go ahead for an additional ten to follow. Many analysts voiced concern that the time wasn't right. Nevertheless, the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller launched July, 2013, along with Maersk Majestic and the Mary Maersk. Several others have followed, and with a $1.9 Billion contract being fulfilled by the Daewoo Ship builders, many more ships can be expected later in 2014 and early 2015. What is Maersk's reasoning for moving ahead with their BIGGER plans? The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, like its sibling ships, is called a Triple-E. There are several reasons for this. These new vessels are known to be: Environmental - creating 20% less carbon dioxide, Energy Efficient - most efficient ship per TEU, and are a testament to the new Economy of Scale - because they can carry 2500 more containers than the previous record holder ships; which were also Maersk vessels.

At the moment Maersk Line's Triple E ships are running the Asia-Europe shipping lanes, and are an intricate part of the P3 alliance's plans to move cargo containers more efficiently and more profitably, to international ports. There are a number of other shipping lines, like CMA-CGM and UASC, who have purchased similar vessels, but none have a post-panamax fleet size that can rival Maersk.