It’s official: Maersk’s seven “B” ships can do 29 knots

It’s official: Maersk’s seven “B” ships can do 29 knots

It’s official: Maersk’s seven “B” ships can do 29 knots

Maersk Line’s seven 4,170-TEU “B-class” containerships built at the Volkswerft Stralsund yard in Germany have a service speed of 29.2 knots, according to the Clarkson Ship Register using data from the vessel’s classification society Lloyd’s Register.
   The Clarkson data said the seven 51,000-deadweight-ton vessels are powered by the 12-cylinder W'rtsil'-Sulzer 12RTflex96-C engines, the same as used to power vessels roughly twice the size at speeds of about 25 knots. At full service speed the “B-class” ships would consume 260 tons of bunker fuel per day.
   Hanjin Shipping's series of eight 6,655-TEU containerships from Hyundai Heavy Industries — of which six have been delivered so far — were thought to be the fastest containerships with a 93,360 hp engine giving a potential service speed of 27 knots.
   The Danish liner operator has continually declined to provide details of the “B-class” ships’ speed or engine specifications, or confirm speculation that it is preparing to deploy them on an express service from the Far East to New York to attract lucrative time-critical cargo.
   If true, such a move would go against the recent trend of leading lines to slow down their ships in order to off-set record fuel prices.
   Maersk is currently deploying five of the “B-class” ships on the transpacific TP8 service. One of the ships, Maersk Beaumont, is transferring from the transatlantic TA2 service to a seasonal Algeciras, Spain/Balboa, Panama/San Antonio, Chile shuttle called Andean A2. Another vessel, Maersk Brooklyn, will in early March start a new Intra Asia (IA3) service for Maersk.
   All of the ships from Volkswerft are owned by the London-based Maersk Co. Ltd. and fly the British 'Red Ensign' flag.
   Maersk Line declined to comment.