Maersk has confirmed new orders for 26 large container ships, as the company tees up an expansion of its shipping fleet.
According to Splash247, each ship will have a capacity of 18,600 twenty-foot equivalent units, with dual-fuel engines that can operate on liquefied natural gas. Deliveries are expected to begin between 2029 and 2039, although Maersk has not specified where the vessels will be built, nor has it provided details on specific contract bids.
Rumors have been swirling for weeks regarding Maersk's plans to grow its fleet. The carrier currently has 1.5 million TEUs on order, market intelligence provider Linerlytica estimates, which would represent nearly a third of its existing fleet.
"Maersk is set to embark on a new vessel ordering spree after being weighed down in the past 8 years by a self-imposed capacity cap that has seen its annualized fleet growth since 2018 limited to just 2.0%, compared to 11.7% by its key rivals," Linerlytica said in an August 17 blog post, noting that Maersk indicated in a Q2 earnings call that it has "reached the limit of what its current fleet can do."
