MAERSK SEALAND CONFIRMS TWO 6,600-TEU SHIP ORDERS.

MAERSK SEALAND CONFIRMS TWO 6,600-TEU SHIP ORDERS    Maersk Sealand confirmed that it has extended its series of 6,600-TEU “S-class” containerships, by ordering another two vessels from the A.P. Moller group’s Odense Steel shipyard in Denmark.
   The two large new vessels, previously not announced by A.P. Moller, will be delivered at the end of this year and early next year.
   They will be the 14th and 15th in the series of 6,600-TEU vessels.
   According to industry sources, the vessels are able to carry more than 7,000 TEUs, rather than the 6,600 TEUs declared by Maersk Sealand.
   Maersk Sealand has also named a newly-built 6,600-TEU containership “Cornelius Maersk.”
   The ship, built at the Odense Steel shipyard, is the 11th in the same series of large container vessels of Maersk that are too wide to transit the Panama canal. The “Cornelius Maersk” is the first new ship built and delivered by the Odense Steel shipyard since the A.P. Moller Group acquired Sea-Land Service Inc. in December 1999.
   The construction of the ship was completed five weeks behind schedule because of a gantry crane accident.
   After the ship has been delivered to Maersk Sealand later this month, the “Cornelius Maersk” will enter the carrier’s Asia/Europe liner service.
   Following completion of the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th vessels in the “S-class” series, Maersk Sealand will operate a total of six 6,000-TEU “K-class” containerships and 15 “S-class” 6,600-TEU vessels.