New ships for Maersk Line

[spotti]

Following strong financial results for 2014 Maersk Line has announced that during the next 6 months orders will be placed for a total capacity of 425000 teus. Delivery in 2017-2019.
Today's interview with ML CEO in a local media apparently reveals details as to the sizes of the ships, however access restricted.
BR Niels

[Andrew McAlpine]

Soren Skou has said the line will need the capacity of the equivelent 30 ships of 14,000teu between 2017-2019.

None of the new vessels will be under 10,000 TEUs.

rgds
Andrew

[jan_t]

None of the new vessels will be under 10,000 TEUs.

^^ Not really true. On the top of the APM-M Group's wishlist there are ten SECA-optmised vessels of ca 3,400 teu, earmarked for intra-Europe services. These could very well end up with Seago. A shipyard tender is already underway...

Furthermore, in the not-too-distant future, ML needs replacement for a number of ageing 8,000 teu ships from Odense (ML's first Jumbos will soon reach 20 years of age). These could be succeeded by modern wide-beam 'New-Panamax' tonnage of 9,000 to 11,000 teu. ML already committed to interim charters for five such ships.

[spotti]

The above mentioned article with the Soren Skou interview has now been opened. A few more details.
The price tag for the investment will be around USD 15 milliards, and especially the large units of 14000 teu and above will be ordered.
Maersk Line has been investigating the option of ordering ships larger than the 3Es, however, for the time being ships of the 3E-type will be the largest of the ML-fleet. The 3Es have been a challenge for the ports in the network due to the need for larger cranes and supporting terminal logistics.
It is a balance between economy of scale and the flexibility of offering an adequate number of sailings to the customers, says Soren Skou.
RG Niels