Maersk Line is expecting delivery of its first world record-breaking 18 000-TEU container vessel in June. The vessels are due to be delivered at intervals of four to six weeks over two and a half years starting mid-2013, giving Maersk “enough [of them] for a full Asia-Europe stream by mid-2014”, said Maersk head of Far East Asia liner operations cluster, Brian Noe Kristensen. The mammoth freighters, from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, weigh 52 859 tons, are 400 metres long and 59 metres wide. The vessels will be the world’s largest box ships when they hit water and will reduce CO2 emissions by 50% per container moved. Pictured here is the second stage of the assembly which takes place over 65 days, putting the 425 threedimensional blocks together to form a complete ship. The entire building process takes 375 days per vessel. CAPTION Photo: Maersk Line
