SEOUL, KOREA - Global shipping companies such as Maersk of Denmark and China Shipping Container Lines are placing a string of orders for mega-sized 18,000-TEU containerships from Korean shipyards.
Global shipping companies show growing preference toward larger container vessels as part of efforts to improve profitability by reducing per-unit transportation cost. Large containerships also can contribute to reducing fuel and maintenance cost.
Hyundai Heavy Industries received an order for five 18,400 TEU containerships from CSCL of China on May 6. They are scheduled for delivery by the second half of 2014. Costing US$140 million apiece, these ships feature a length of 400 meters, a width of 58.6 meters, and a depth of 30.1 meters. An HHI official said, "In terms of TEU, they are the world's biggest containerships."
In terms of size instead of TEU, the world's largest containership is the Triple E ships that Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering launched in February. The vessel is the first in a series of ten ordered en bloc by Maersk in 2011. The first ship is scheduled for delivery in June 2013. The ship is capable of loading 18,270 containers. Its length and depth are the same as those of the ship that HHI will build for CSCL.
