Maersk Line is the core liner shipping business of the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group, and the leading container shipping company in the world. The Maersk Line fleet comprises more than 600 vessels and a number of containers corresponding to more than 4,100,000 TEU (Twenty foot Equivalent Unit – a container 20 feet long). This ensures a reliable and comprehensive coverage worldwide.
What is container shipping? Containerisation is a global system of intermodal cargo transport using standardised containers, which can be loaded and sealed intact onto container ships, railroad cars, planes and trucks. Prior to the introduction of containers, cargo handling for sea transportation was both time consuming and expensive. Containers have changed that fundamentally. Transport is now safer and more affordable than ever before.
World trade would not be the same without the modern container, invented in 1956. Today, Maersk Line ships around 14% of the world container trade*. Every commodity and type of goods can be loaded and carried in ‘the box’, as the container is often referred to. As a result, modern container shipping has changed the way we transport goods around the world and has played a key role in globalisation.
A single 20-foot container can hold about 48,000 bananas. So, in theory, a PS-vessel such as the EMMA MAERSK can transport approximately 746 million bananas in a single voyage - enough to give every person in Europe or North America a banana for breakfast
If all Maersk Line containers were placed one after the other, they would reach about 19,000 km. This is more than the distance from Copenhagen, Denmark to Perth, Australia, via Cape Town, South Africa or almost half of the earth's circumference or almost three times the earth's radius
If all the Maersk Line containers were stacked on top of each other they would reach approximately 2,500 kilometres high, equivalent to stacking 8,550 Eiffel Towers on top of each other
In 2009, Maersk Line vessels made around 35,000 port calls - equivalent to approximately four port calls per hour or one call every 15 minutes
A PS-class vessel such as the EMMA MÆRSK can carry 14,770 full 20-foot containers. That equals a train 92 kilometers long.
The anchor of a PS-class vessel such as the EMMA MÆRSK weighs 29 tonnes, equivalent to five adult African elephants.
The main engine of a PS-class vessel such as the EMMA MÆRSK produces 109,000 horsepower, equal to that of 1,156 family cars.
Combined, the accommodation and bridge of a PS-class vessel are as high as a twelve-storey building.
PS-class vessels are equipped with a waste heat recovery system, saving up to ten percent of main engine power. That is equal to the average annual electrical consumption of 5,000 European households.
The ‘Triple-E’ vessels (Economy of scale, Efficiency, Environment) will set new standards for size, fuel and cost efficiency as well as reduction of CO2 emissions. The capacity of the new vessels is 18,000 TEU, exceeding the capacity of the world’s largest container vessels currently, Maersk Line’s PS-class vessels of 15,550 TEU. The vessels are scheduled for delivery between 2013-2015.
