Maersk Goes Big Capacity with Innovative Next Boxship Order
Maersk confirmed its next shipbuilding order, reporting it will build a series of large vessels that will maintain efficiency while increasing flexibility. It said the latest order is part of its ongoing fleet renewal program.
The order is with China’s New Times Shipbuilding Company and calls for eight large vessels for delivery in 2029 and 2030. The ships will be equipped with dual-fuel engines for conventional bunker fuel or liquefied gas and have a capacity for 18,600 TEU.
Maersk highlights that the ship will have a similar capacity to its current largest vessels but will be more compact in design. The new ships will measure 368 meters (1,207 feet) compared to the current vessels of the Triple E Class, which are 399 meters (1,309 feet) with a capacity ranging between 18,270 TEU and 20,568 TEU between the two groups in the class.
“Deployment flexibility has been a key factor in our decision-making,” explains Anda Cristescu, Head of Chartering & Newbuilding at Maersk. “Although these vessels are large, they offer greater flexibility than the largest ships currently being built in our industry. This provides us with multiple deployment options across both our current and future networks.”
Maersk's rendering for the next class shows a more traditional layout but uses a shorter hull (Maersk)
Maersk built the Triple E as its largest class starting in 2013 and deployed 20 ships by 2015, followed by a second grouping of 11 ships between 2018 and 2019. It has resisted the industry trend for ultra-large vessels with a capacity of around 24,000 TEU, deployed by peers including MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, and HMM.
This class follows the completion at the beginning of this year of the dual-fuel methanol vessels, which have a capacity of up to 17,480 TEU. The final ship, Barcelona Maersk, was introduced at the beginning of January and completed the series of 18 ships built in South Korea. Unlike the methanol vessels, which adopted a design with a forward bridge and accommodation block and moved the funnel to one side all the way aft, the new order shows a more traditional design with the split midship bridge and funnel casing.
Maersk launched its fleet renewal strategy in 2021 and updated it in 2024, reporting its goal is to maintain its current total capacity around the current 4.6 million TEU. It said newbuilds would be split between owned and chartered vessels and would be used to replace older vessels, which would be scrapped. Last week, talking about the market’s current overcapacity, CEO Vincent Clerc called for more scrapping to manage industry capacity.
Tangier Maersk, introduced last month, is a new methanol dual-fuel midsize class (Maersk)
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The company reports it currently has 33 vessels on order, with Alphaliner reporting Maersk's total at 87 vessels with a total capacity of 1.2 million TEU, including charters. The company had said in 2024 that it was targeting an annual rate of 160,000 TEU and contracts totaling 800,000 TEU of capacity between 2026 and 2030.
In January, Maersk unveiled its other new class, a series of six midsize vessels. They are being built at Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group in Jingjiang, China, and have a capacity of 9,000 TEU. The vessels are dual-fuel capable of operating on methanol. The first ship, Tangier Maersk, was introduced in January, with four more due this year and one in 2027.
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