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A world record-breaking container carrier leaving the yard for the sea trials.

“Emma Mærsk”– the world’s largest

It is now a fact that Odense Steel Shipyard’s hull no. 203 is the world’s largest container carrier. It was named in mid-August and given the name Emma Mærsk (after the late wife of Arnold Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller), introducing an E-class of eight ships. Ane Mc-Kinney Uggla, the Swedish married and youngest daughter of the ship-owner, named the ship.

As always, A.P. Møller-Mærsk makes the capacity of the vessel a puzzle. Jess Søderberg, CEO of A.P. Møller-Mærsk, revealed the capacity at a conference in Copenhagen a few days before the naming ceremony by saying:
“50 years ago, the first container vessel went to sea with 58 containers, each 35 feet long. Today ships sail with 100 times that number of containers and from next week 200 times more”.

The result of this calculation is 11,600 TEU:s as the official capacity. But it is likely to be much more, as is usually the case when Maersk Line gives an indication of capacity. The real capacity is thought to be in excess of 14,500 TEU:s. However, a clear indication of the much higher volume of the E-class ships is the deadweight, which reaches 156,907 DWT for the Emma Mærsk or about 47,000 DWT more than the previous container vessel from the same shipyard. By comparison, the capacity of a small panamax-container vessel has been added to the previous super-container vessel, the Georg Mærsk.

Devastating fire
It has also been revealed that the Emma Mærsk is fitted with the largest diesel engine ever manufactured. A 14-cylinder 96 cm Wärtsilä engine of Flex-type with electronic control developing some 80,080 kW, has been built for this huge containership. Furthermore, the engine room is filled with auxiliary engines adding around 40,000 hp for servicing reefer containers. Added to these is a huge shaft-generator and a turbo-generator using exhaust heat from the funnel. The service speed will as usual be around 25 knots, which is a standard term in Maersk Line, but again it is likely that the Emma Mærsk will be capable of much more speed if needed, to make up for lost time in the tight schedules.

	A bulb of the size of an M-class SvitzerWijsmuller tug gives a perspective on the titanic ship.

The Emma Mærsk is about six–seven weeks delayed. The delay was caused by a devastating fire in the accommodation quarters in the early days of June. A welding job on the main deck, close to the end of working hours, led to a fire that totally destroyed the almost finished accommodation quarters and all the equipment in the wheelhouse. Shipyard Baltija at Klaipeda – where the accommodation quarters were built and equipped – had to speed up the process and then Emma Mærsk was shipped to Odense. Two Dutch floating cranes shifted the quarters in mid July. The old, burnt out quarters were sold to the nearby recycling company H. J. Hansen for demolition.

The Emma Mærsk left Odense for sea trials and final fitting out alongside in Århus before going on its maiden voyage under the command of the Flag-captain Henrik Solmer. The loading port will be Göteborg on September 14, then to Bremerhaven on September 18, Rotterdam on September 20 and Algeciras on September 23. The maiden voyage will end in Århus on November 18.

//Bent Mikkelsen

 

Emma Mærsk
Homeport:	Taarbæk
Built:	Odense Staalskibsværft. Hull no. 203
Owner:	A.P. Møller-Mærsk A/S
Length o.a.	397.71 m
Length b.p.	376.0 m
Width	56.40 m
Draft	15.5 m
Hight of hull	30.2 m
Gross tonnage	170,974 bt
Net tonnage	55,396 nt
Deadweight	156,907 DWT
Main engine:	Wärtsilä 14RT-Flex96c, 80,080 kW (109,000 hp)
Speed	>25.5 knots
Auxiliary:	5 x Caterpillar 8M32, 40,000 hp