By Dominic Chopping
Maersk Line, the container shipping unit of Danish conglomerate
A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S (MAERSK-B.KO), has ordered seven new
container vessels for use in the Baltic and North Sea, it said
Thursday.
The so-called "ice-class" vessels carry 3,600 20-foot equivalent
containers and are designed to operate through sea ice. They have
been ordered for Maersk's Seago Line unit and will replace several
container vessels that are half the size or less of the new
buildings.
It said the order is the first step in its previously announced
five-year, $15 billion investment program, which will be spent on
new vessel building, a retrofit program, containers and other
equipment.
The vessels will be built by Cosco Shipyard Co., Ltd. in China
with deliveries expected between April and November 2017. The order
includes an option for two additional vessels to be declared within
eight months.
The price of the order wasn't disclosed.
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com; Twitter:
@WSJNordics
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