Maersk Line has launched the first of its largest-ever worldwide container ships, Triple E vessels, in a South Korean shipyard.
The Danish ocean shipping company first started ordering the vessels two years ago. They have the capacity to carry 18,000 20-foot containers, 2,500 more than Maersk’s current largest ships.
On 4 March, the company’s chief executive officer Soren Skou announced at a conference that Maersk intends to launch five of their new vessels in the latter half of 2013 on their return route from Asia to Europe.
Industry experts speculate that this increased capacity may not be beneficial for Maersk in the short-term given the current state of the waterways, which are already oversupplied with ships hastily ordered before the financial crisis.
This has resulted in low shipping rates for companies, with Asia-Europe the route worst affected by the global economic slump.
Skou has sought assuage concerns by pointing out that they are not relevant this year.
“It’s really a 2014 issue as opposed to a 2013 issue because they will not hit the market with any meaningful addition to capacity this year,” he said.
