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Maersk eyeing more monster ships
Christian Wenande
May 11th, 2015
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This article is more than 9 years old.
Shipping giant reportedly close to sealing deal with South Korean shipyard
The Danish shipping giant Maersk is reportedly close to agreeing to order the construction of up to 11 new giga-container ships from the South Korean shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.
While the details of the agreement has yet to be revealed, sources told The Korea Economic Daily that Daewoo would build the first four ships – with a capacity of 20,000 TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) – with an option on the final seven.
The container ships cost an estimated one billion kroner a piece, and the total price of the deal is estimated to be around 11 billion kroner.
READ MORE: Maersk ship released by Iranian authorities
Keeping up with competition
According to Jyllands-Posten newspaper, Daewoo looks to have won the lucrative Maersk contract ahead of another Korean bidder, Hyundai Heavy Industries.
Maersk’s largest ships, the Triple E-series with a capacity of 18,300 TEU each, was the largest in the world until competitors revealed new ships with a capacity of 19,000 TEU.
Søren Skou, the head of Maersk Line, revealed late last year that Maersk would need new ships with a total capacity of 425,000 TEU over the next four to five years if they want to keep pace with the market growth.
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