Maersk ULCSs may trigger capacity race
Alphaliner’s conceptualised drawing of the 18,000 TEU ultra large container ship
Maersk’s rumoured order for 18,000 TEU containerships could change the competitive landscape for the container carriers, with the new designs expected to breach existing vessel dimensions in a significant way.
Currently, the largest containerships, Maersk Line’s ‘E’-class, can carry up to 15,200 TEU, based on Alphaliner’s estimates. These ultra large container ships (ULCS) are too wide for the new Panama locks and can thus be qualified as neo-over-Panamax ULCSs.
Maersk Lines initiative has not remained isolated since four more carriers consisting of MSC, CMA CGM, CSCL and COSCO, have so far invested in the 13,800-15,200 TEU neo-over-Panamax ULCSs, either owned or leased. Including the Maersk units, 58 such ships are either sailing or being constructed, according to Alphaliner records. All these ULCSs are currently deployed on the Asia-Europe route, with no expectations to see them plying the transpacific route any time soon.
To these 58 ships must be added 110 very large container ships (VLCS) of 12,500-13,100 TEU of neo-Panamax dimensions (beam of up to 49m with Loa of up to 366m), which are capable of transiting the new Panama locks. The majority of these ships were ordered in a massive wave starting six months after the Panama Canal Authority officially unveiled the new Panamax gauge in October 2006.
After a lull of some two years in VL/ULCSs orders, carriers are now thinking about ordering big ships again. The imminent Maersk ULCS order is expected to trigger off a wave of newbuilding contracts, even if most of carriers so far stated that they will steer clear from ordering vessels of above 14,000 TEU.
The current ULVSs of Maersk Line, MSC, CMA CGM and CSCL suggest that such ships can be fully utilised and their huge volume of boxes can be handled swiftly by appropriately designed terminals and by the well oiled logistics networks. Thus, projects for 18,000 TEU ships as rumoured for Maersk Line appear to be viable, especially as the infrastructure exists to support them since most terminals handling the 22-row ‘E’-class vessels can also handle 23-rows ships.
Alphaliner has conceptualised a model of the new ULCS design with a geometric intake of 9,000 FEU HC boxes, which have become the staple of the container trades. Based on this, the equivalent nominal capacity of such a vessel could reach 20,000 TEU.Images for this article - click to enlarge
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