Name Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Cost $190 million In service 2 July 2013 Construction started 27 November 2012 | Port of registry Hellerup, Denmark Laid down 27 November 2012 Length 400 m Launched 24 February 2013 | |
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Owner A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S Builder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering | ||
MV Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller is the lead ship of Maersk's Triple E class of container vessels. At the time of its entry into service in 2013, it had the largest cargo capacity in TEU of any vessel, and was the longest container ship in service worldwide. Constructed for Maersk by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) of South Korea, it was launched in February 2013 and entered operational service in July 2013. It was named for Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, the CEO of Maersk between 1965 and 1993. The ship is the first of a class of 20 identical vessels.
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Design overview
Along with its Triple E class sister ships, Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller was the world's largest and most efficient operational container ship at the time of its completion, totalling 400 metres (1,300 ft) in length and with a cargo capacity of 18,270 TEU containers. Its efficiency is maximized by fuel-efficient engines and a maximum speed of 23 knots, reducing its fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent compared to the previous most efficient cargo vessel. However, due to its size and cost, its efficiency is severely reduced if it is not fully loaded; the shipping analyst Richard Meade asserts that it is "probably the most inefficient ship ever built" when half-loaded. During normal operations, the Møller is manned by a crew of 19, although it has sufficient accommodation for 34 people.
Career
The contract for the construction of Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller was signed on 21 February 2011. Work began with a steel cutting ceremony at the DSME shipyard at Okpo-dong, South Korea, on 18 June 2012. The hull was laid down on 27 November 2012 and officially launched on 24 February 2013.
The Møller left the Daewoo shipyards in an operational capacity in July 2013, whereupon it began sea trials. Initially, it was forced to operate well under its maximum cargo capacity, as most ports certified to handle Triple E class vessels at that time lacked gantry cranes tall enough to fully load the ship. In August 2013, it made its first transit of the Suez Canal. In January 2014, the Møller arrived at its first operational port of call, Singapore. In November 2014, the Møller was superseded as the world's largest container ship by China Shipping Container Lines' CSCL Globe.
