Emma Mærsk
Encyclopedia
Container ship
Container ships are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. They form a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport.-History:...
in the E-class
Mærsk E-class
The Maersk E Series comprises eight 14,770 twenty-foot equivalent unit container ships. Each sister ship bear names beginning with the letter "E", tie for the largest container ship ever constructed, and are the longest ships currently in use at 397 metres long and 56 metres wide. They are owned...
of eight owned by the A. P. Moller-Maersk Group. When she was launched in 2006, Emma Mærsk was the largest container ship ever built. As of 2010, she and her seven sister ships are the longest container ships constructed and the longest ships currently in use, after the largest ship ever built, Seawise Giant, was permanently moored in 2004 and scrapped in 2010. Officially, Emma Mærsk is able to carry around or 14,770 TEU depending on definition. In May 2010, the class set a record of in Tanger-Med
Tanger-med
Tanger-Med is a cargo and passenger port located about 40 km east of Tangier, Morocco. It is one of the largest ports on the Mediterranean and in Africa by capacity and went into service in July 2007. Its initial capacity was 3.5 million shipment containers....
, Tangiers on sister Ebba Mærsk
Ebba Mærsk
The Ebba Maersk is a container ship owned by the Danish shipping company A. P. Moller-Maersk Group. The fifth of the Mærsk E-class, it and its seven sister ships are the largest container ships ever built as well as the longest ships in use. It has a total TEU capacity of 11,000 TEU 14-ton...
.
History
The ship was built at the Odense Steel ShipyardOdense Steel Shipyard
Odense Steel Shipyard located in Odense, Denmark was constructed in 1918–1919 by the A.P. Møller company and will be closed sometime in 2012. A new yard with bigger and better facilities was constructed 1957–1959 on a new site located in Munkebo a few kilometres outside of Odense proper...
in Denmark. In June 2006, during construction, welding work caused a fire within her superstructure. It spread rapidly through the accommodation section and bridge, which delayed the ship by six to seven weeks.
Emma Mærsk was named in a ceremony on 12 August 2006. The ship is named after Emma Mærsk, Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller
Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller
Arnold Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, is a Danish shipping magnate.-Personal life:Møller is the son of Arnold Peter Møller – founder of the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group – and an American, Chastine Estelle Roberta McKinney. He was married to his high-school sweetheart Emma Neergaard Rasmussen from 1940...
's late wife. The ship set sail on her maiden voyage on 8 September 2006 at 02:00 hours from Aarhus
Aarhus
Aarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark...
, calling at Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
, Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
, Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, Algeciras
Algeciras
Algeciras is a port city in the south of Spain, and is the largest city on the Bay of Gibraltar . Port of Algeciras is one of the largest ports in Europe and in the world in three categories: container,...
, the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
, and arrived in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
on 1 October 2006 at 20:05 hours.
Emma Mærsk departed Singapore the next day, headed for Yantian in Shenzhen
Shenzhen
Shenzhen is a major city in the south of Southern China's Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. The area became China's first—and one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones...
. She sailed on to Kobe
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
, Nagoya, arrived at Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
on 10 October 2006, and returned via Shenzhen, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Tanjung Pelepas, the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
, Felixstowe
Port of Felixstowe
The Port of Felixstowe, in Felixstowe, Suffolk is the UK's busiest container port, dealing with 35% of the country's container cargo. It was developed following the abandonment of a project for a deep-water harbour at Maplin Sands. In 2005, it was ranked as the 28th busiest container port in the...
, Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Gothenburg and finally to Aarhus, with arrival at that port 11 November 2006 at 16:00 hours.
She appeared in headlines prior to Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
2006, when she was dubbed SS Santa because she was bound for the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
from China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
loaded with Christmas goods. The return journey after Christmas 2006 saw her return to southern China, loaded with UK waste
Waste
Waste is unwanted or useless materials. In biology, waste is any of the many unwanted substances or toxins that are expelled from living organisms, metabolic waste; such as urea, sweat or feces. Litter is waste which has been disposed of improperly...
destined for recycling
Recycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
in China.
Her appearance in the news prompted the State Environmental Protection Administration in China to promise to "closely watch the progress of investigation into the dumping of garbage in south China by Britain". Ministry officials added that no official approval had been given to any company in the area to import waste.
Capacity
Originally Maersk reported a capacity of 11,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unitTwenty-foot equivalent unit
The twenty-foot equivalent unit is an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals...
s) as the maximum capacity if all are fully loaded 14 ton containers, according to Maersk company's then method of calculating capacity, which, at her introduction into service, was about 1,400 more containers than any other ship is capable of carrying. However, Maersk also acknowledges the standard method of defining capacity, stating 14,770 TEU.
By normal calculations, Emma Mærsk has a cargo capacity significantly greater than what is reported—between 13,500 and 15,200 TEU. The difference between the official and estimated numbers is because Maersk calculates the capacity of a container ship by weight (in this case, 14 tons/container) that can be carried on a vessel. For Emma Mærsk, this is 11,000+ containers, of which 1,000 can be reefers. Other companies calculate the capacity of a container ship according to the maximum number of containers that can be put on the ship, independent of the weight of the containers. This number is always greater than the number calculated by the Maersk method.
Comparing the size of ships can be done in various ways. Comparing ships in different trades often comes down to simple dimensions or weight of cargo
Cargo
Cargo is goods or produce transported, generally for commercial gain, by ship, aircraft, train, van or truck. In modern times, containers are used in most intermodal long-haul cargo transport.-Marine:...
carried. Ships in the same trade can, usually, be compared more directly. One measure of vessel size is gross tonnage
Gross tonnage
Gross tonnage is a unitless index related to a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage...
, which is a measure of volume
Volume
Volume is the quantity of three-dimensional space enclosed by some closed boundary, for example, the space that a substance or shape occupies or contains....
. Here Emma Maersk, and her sisters, at about 170,000 gross tons, are clearly much bigger than—for example, MSC Daniela
MSC Daniela
MSC Daniela is a container ship operated by the Mediterranean Shipping Company that is one of the largest container ships of the world, with a TEU cargo capacity of 14,000 containers. The building of MSC Daniela was started on 1 July, 2006 and finished at the end of 2008; the ship was subsequently...
class, which are about 135,000 gross tons; a point to note is that the MSC ships are of a different design, with bridge well forward, and engine room
Engine room
On a ship, the engine room, or ER, commonly refers to the machinery spaces of a vessel. To increase the safety and damage survivability of a vessel, the machinery necessary for operations may be segregated into various spaces, the engine room is one of these spaces, and is generally the largest...
and funnel well aft; this is claimed—by both builder and operator—to be slightly more efficient. The Maersk ships are some thirty metres longer, four metres wider, and have a slightly greater full load draft than the MSC vessels. Interestingly, the Maersk vessels appear, in photographs, to have much finer lines than the rather 'blocky' MSC ships, which would give the latter a higher block coefficient
Hull (watercraft)
A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...
and so higher carrying capacity for their length times beam times draft. Maersk ships would be expected to be more fuel-efficient, however.
On 21 February 2011, Maersk ordered a family of ten even larger container ships from Daewoo
Daewoo
Daewoo or the Daewoo Group was a major South Korean chaebol . It was founded on 22 March 1967 as Daewoo Industrial and was dismantled by the Korean government in 1999...
, the Triple E class
Maersk Triple E class
The Maersk Triple E class is a planned family of large, fuel-efficient container ships, designed as a successor to the Mærsk E-class. In February 2011, Maersk awarded Daewoo Shipbuilding a US$1.9 billion contract to build twenty of the ships....
, with a capacity of 18,000 containers. A further ten ships were ordered in June 2011. The first is to be delivered in 2014.
Engine and hull
Emma Mærsk is powered by a Wärtsilä-Sulzer 14RTFLEX96-C engine, currently the world's largest single diesel unit, weighing 2,300 tons and capable of 109000 hp when burning 3600 gallons (13,627.5 l) of heavy fuel oil per hour. At economical speed, fuel consumptiom is 0.260 bs/hp/hour (1,660gal/hour). The ship has several features to lower environmental damage, some of which include exhaust heat recovery and cogenerationCogeneration
Cogeneration is the use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful heat....
. Some of the exhaust gases are returned to the engine to improve economy and lower emissions, and some are passed through a steam generator which then powers a Peter Brotherhood Ltd (Now Owned by Dresser-Rand) steam turbine and electrical generators to generate electricity. This creates an electrical output of 8.5MW, equivalent to about 12 percent of the main engine power output. Some of this steam is also used directly as shipboard heat. Five diesel generators can together produce 20.8MW, giving a total electric output of 29MW. Two 9MW electric motors also power the main propeller shaft.
Two bow and two stern thrusters provide port manoeuvrability, and two pairs of stabilizer fins
Stabilizer (ship)
Ship stabilizers are fins mounted beneath the waterline and emerging laterally. In contemporary vessels, they may be gyroscopically controlled active fins, which have the capacity to change their angle of attack to counteract roll caused by wind or waves acting on the ship.The bilge keel is an...
reduce rolling.
Instead of biocide
Biocide
A biocide is a chemical substance or microorganism which can deter, render harmless, or exert a controlling effect on any harmful organism by chemical or biological means. Biocides are commonly used in medicine, agriculture, forestry, and industry...
s, used by much of the industry to keep barnacles off of the hull, a special silicone-based paint is used. This increases the ship's efficiency by reducing drag while also protecting the ocean
Ocean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
from biocides that may leak. The silicone paint covering the part of the hull below the waterline is credited with lowering the water drag
Drag (physics)
In fluid dynamics, drag refers to forces which act on a solid object in the direction of the relative fluid flow velocity...
enough to save 1200 tons of fuel per year. The ship has a bulbous bow
Bulbous bow
A bulbous bow is a protruding bulb at the bow of a ship just below the waterline. The bulb modifies the way the water flows around the hull, reducing drag and thus increasing speed, range, fuel efficiency, and stability...
, a standard feature for cargo ships.
The turning diameter at 24 knots (47 km/h) is 1.5 km.
The engine is placed near midship to make best use of the rigidity of the hull and to maximize capacity. When banking 20 degrees, the bridge sways 35 metres.
Sailing schedules
Emma Mærsks regular round trip involves NingboNingbo
Ningbo is a seaport city of northeastern Zhejiang province, Eastern China. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, the municipality has a population of 7,605,700 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 3,089,180 in the built up area made of 6 urban districts. It lies south of the Hangzhou Bay,...
, Xiamen
Xiamen
Xiamen , also known as Amoy , is a major city on the southeast coast of the People's Republic of China. It is administered as a sub-provincial city of Fujian province with an area of and population of 3.53 million...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
(westbound), Yantian (westbound), Algeciras
Algeciras
Algeciras is a port city in the south of Spain, and is the largest city on the Bay of Gibraltar . Port of Algeciras is one of the largest ports in Europe and in the world in three categories: container,...
(westbound), Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
, Algeciras (eastbound), Yantian (eastbound), Hong Kong (eastbound) and Ningbo.
Criticism
Emma Mærsk and similar ships have been criticised for their burning of bunker fuel, which has a high sulphur content. Fuel sulphur content is 2.5 to 4.5 percent which is over 2,000 times more than allowed in current automotive fuel.This fuel oil is not burnt in internationally-agreed Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECAs); there fuel with a maximum of 1.0% [2010] sulphur is permitted; the limit is to be reduced to 0.1% in 2015. Reduced sulphur in the fuel affects the lubrificatory properties, which could lead to lower reliability, and higher costs for maintenance and repair, over and above purchasing the more-expensive low-sulphur fuel.