Maersk Line is to order seven new 3,600 TEU ships as part of its US$15bn capital investment programme to invest in more equipment and container ships over the next five years.
Lars Jensen, CEO at Maersk Line Asia-Pacific recently said that the company aims to order more ships in a bid to exploit the predicted demand growth of 3-5% in container shipping in 2015.
In Container Management, Søren Toft, COO at Maersk Line, said: “Our strategy is to grow with the market and to do so we need new vessels from 2017. We expect to place additional orders this year.”
Maersk are one of few container lines spending more on larger container ships in a bid to expand its fleet. CMA CGM recently made an order for three 20,000 TEU ships at a cost of around $470m.
As container lines order larger ships, issues have been raised as to how ports will handle the demands placed on them by mega shipping lines.
