Analysis by Drewry
According to Drewry, Evergreen has joined the mega-ship club with an order for 11 x 20,000 teu units. How many more carriers will follow?
The announcement that Evergreen has signed time-charter agreements with Shoei Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. for 11 Ultra Large Container Vessels (ULCVs) of 20,000 teu – the nominal capacity stated by builders Imbari rather than Evergreen’s operational estimate of 18,000 teu – means that the total sum for ships of 18,000 teu and above, either active or on order, has now passed the 1 million teu mark.
Measuring about 400 metres in length and 59 metres wide these ships will join the CKYHE Alliance (Cosco, K Line, Yang Ming, Hanjin and Evergreen) services from 2018 through 2019.
Evergreen emphasised the main draw of these ships, the cost savings, with the ship’s new generation G-type main engine developed with a longer stroke in order to sail at lower speeds, helping to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 7 % compared with traditional main engines.
The 18,000 teu-plus club was formed by Maersk Line when it ordered the first tranche of 10 Triple E class ships in February 2011, which it followed in June of the same year with an order for 10 more.
Two years later, CSCL, MSC and UASC were suitably convinced of the competitive advantages of these leviathans that they ordered their own sets, and almost fully four years since the first Maersk order, Evergreen has become the fifth member of the club.
Source and Image Credit: Drewry