Mærsk signs up for super-reefers

SSG-RINGKØBING. A. P. Møller-Mærsk has signed up for another batch of container vessels from a Korean shipyard. This time the Danish giant has signed up with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co for 16 ships for delivery between 2010 and 2012. The vessels, 100,000 DWT, will have a capacity of 7,450 TEU. The ships will be fitted with 1,700 reefer plugs making them the biggest ever-built reefer-box ships. If all plugs are used on 40 foot reefer container the total capacity will land on four million cubic feet. In comparison the largest dedicated built reefer vessels, the Lauritzen family class vessels, have a capacity of 765,000 cbf. According to a statement from Maersk Line the new vessels will be used in the North-South trade from South America, Southern Africa and New Zealand, which all have a huge export of fruit. The price tag for these units is around USD 125 million.