Maersk has agreed to charter 13 feeder ships of 2,200 teu each, currently being built in China and Japan. The new ships are scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2021, Maersk tells WPO.
Photo: Seago Line
Even though Maersk is refraining from investments in large ships until at least 2020, the shipping line has decided to charter 13 smaller container ships of 2,200 teu each, Maersk VP and Head of Chartering Peter Lund confirms to WPO.
“As part of the ongoing optimization and renewal of our feeder fleet portfolio, Maersk has committed to charter thirteen 2,200 teu feeder newbuildings,” says the Maersk VP in an email to WPO, adding that the ships are leased, and thus financed and owned by a third party.
Five of the ships are being built at the Jiangnan yard in China, while three of are being constructed at the Zhoushan Changhong yard in the same country. The remaining five ships are under construction at Japan’s Imabari shipyard.
We reiterate our target to keep fleet capacity around 4 million teu in 2019″
Peter Lund, head of chartering, Maersk
Maersk currently has around 250 ships in the segment with a capacity of less than 3,000 teu per unit, including more than 20 ships with ages of around 20 years.
Designed for special tasks
According to the Maersk VP, the new feeder ships are “designed and optimized for operational profiles, for which optimal ships are not available in the market.”
“As global operator of more than 700 vessels Maersk is continuously reviewing the fleet composition to ensure it matches current and future operational requirements. This includes reviews and evaluation of the opportunities to charter, purchase or sell vessels, as well as limited ordering of newbuildings in select vessel segments,” adds Lund about the fleet expansion.
The feeder ships will operate in Sealand’s intra-Asia network where they will replace older, less efficient ships in Maersk’s chartered fleet as well as owned ships, which will be “reaching end of lifetime in the next years,” says the Maersk VP.
He also repeats that the company has no plans to order large vessels before next year at the earliest.
“We reiterate our target to keep fleet capacity around 4 million teu in 2019,” says Lund.
English Edit: Daniel Logan Berg-Munch
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