Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Tuesday it had signed a deal with Hyundai Heavy Industries for the delivery of 18 container vessels in 2011 and 2012. In a statement Maersk, which operates the world's largest container shipping line, said the ships would each have a capacity of 4,500 TEU (twenty- foot equivalent units).
"We are very happy with this order. These vessels are part of our fleet renewal and development programme," Maersk said. The value of the order was not given. Earlier this month, industry publication Tradewinds reported that Maersk was close to ordering the ships and put a value on each vessel of about $91 million each. Maersk said each vessel would be equipped with a waste heat recovery system to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. The Danish conglomerate said it would work on a variety of deployment scenarios in view of the flexible design of the vessels.