 Container shipEmma Mærsk in Aarhus, 5 September 2006 | |
| Name | Emma Mærsk |
|---|---|
| Owner | Moller-Maersk |
| Operator | A. P. Moller-Maersk Group |
| Port of registry | Taarbæk, Denmark |
| Builder | Odense Steel Shipyard Ltd.,Denmark |
| Laid down | 20 January 2006[1] |
| Launched | 18 May 2006 |
| Acquired | 31 August 2006 |
| In service | 31 August 2006 |
| Identification |
|
| Status | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | E-classcontainer ship |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 397 m (1,302 ft 6 in) |
| Beam | 56 m (183 ft 9 in) |
| Draught | 16.02 m (52 ft 7 in) |
| Depth | 30 m (98 ft 5 in) (deck edge to keel) |
| Propulsion | 81 MW (109,000 hp)Wärtsilä 14RT-Flex96c plus 30 MW (40,000 hp) from fiveCaterpillar 9M32 |
| Speed | 25.5 knots (47.2 km/h; 29.3 mph) |
| Capacity | |
| Crew | 13, with room for 30 |
| Notes | [2] |
Emma Mærsk is the firstcontainer ship in theE class of eight owned byA.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S. When launched in 2006, she was the largest container ship ever built, and in 2010, she and her sevensister ships were among thelongest container ships. Officially, she is able to carry around 11,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) or 14,770 TEU, depending on definition. In May 2010, her sister shipEbba Mærsk set a record of 15,011 TEU inTanger-Med,Tangier.[3]
Emma Mærsk was built at theOdense Steel Shipyard inDenmark. In June 2006, during construction,welding work caused a fire within thesuperstructure.[4] It spread rapidly through the accommodation section andbridge, which delayed her completion by six to seven weeks.
She was named in a ceremony on 12 August 2006, afterMærsk Mc-Kinney Møller's late wife, Emma. On 16 August 2006, five tugboats draggedEmma Mærsk from her Danish shipyard and towed her backward to the sea.[5] She set sail on her maiden voyage on 8 September 2006 at 02:00 hours fromAarhus, calling atGothenburg,Bremerhaven,Rotterdam,Algeciras, theSuez Canal, and arrived inSingapore on 1 October 2006 at 20:05 hours. She sailed the next day forYantian inShenzhen, thenKobe,Nagoya, arriving atYokohama on 10 October 2006, and returning via Shenzhen,Hong Kong,Tanjung Pelepas, the Suez Canal,Felixstowe, Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Gothenburg to Aarhus, arriving on 11 November 2006 at 16:00 hours.[6]
In 2008, the ship was featured on an episode of the television documentary seriesMighty Ships, during a voyage between Malaysia and Spain.[7]
In 2011, theNational Bank of Denmark issued a 20DKKcommemorative coin for her.[8]
Going eastwards on 1 February 2013, she suffered a damagedsternthruster and took on so much water in the Suez Canal that she became unmaneuverable.Tugs, anchors and the wind[9] took her toPort Said to offload 13,500 containers, drain her and be investigated by divers. She had not been in danger of sinking.[10][11][12][13][14]
On 15 February 2013, the Maersk Line confirmed that she was about to leave Port Said under tow to a yard for further assessment and repair.[15] On 25 February she reached the yard ofPalermo,Sicily, where she was scheduled to stay for four months.[16] The flooded engine was disassembled, repaired and assembled,[17] and in August 2013, she was in service again[18] after a DKK 250 million (roughlyUS$44.5 million) repair.[19]
Originally Maersk reported a capacity of 11,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) as the maximum capacity of fully loaded 14 ton containers, according to Maersk company's then method of calculating capacity,[20] which, at her introduction into service, was about 1,400 more containers than any other ship.[21] However, Maersk also acknowledges the standard method of defining capacity, stating 14,770 TEU.[22]
By normal calculations, she has a capacity significantly greater than reported—between 13,500 and 15,200 TEU.[23][24] 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), i.e. 11,000+ containers,[25] of which 1,000 can berefrigerated containers.[26]
Other companies calculate capacity according to the maximum number of containers that can be carried irrespective of weight, always greater than the number calculated by the Maersk method.[citation needed] As of 2012, the E class is still the largest by full-weight 14-tonne capacity.Marco Polo can carry 10,000 14 t containers, 16,020 if not fully loaded.[27][28]
On 21 February 2011, Maersk ordered a family of ten even larger ships fromDaewoo, theTriple E class, with a capacity of 18,000 containers. A further ten ships were ordered in June 2011. The first was delivered in 2013.[29][30]
She is powered by aWärtsilä-Sulzer 14RTFLEX96-Cstraight-14 engine, the world's largest singlediesel unit, weighing 2,300 tonnes and capable of 81 MW (109,000 hp) when burning 14,000 litres (3,600 US gal) ofheavy fuel oil per hour.[31][32][33]
At economical speed, fuel consumption is 0.260 bs/hp·hour (6,284 L/hour).[34] She has features to lower environmental damage, includingexhaust heat recovery andcogeneration.[35] Some of the exhaust gases are returned to the engine to improve economy and lower emissions,[36] and some are passed through a steam generator which then powers aPeter Brotherhood steam turbine and electrical generators. This creates an electrical output of 8.5 MW,[37] equivalent to about 12% of the main engine power output. Some of this steam is used directly as shipboard heat.[38] Five diesel generators together produce 20.8 MW,[37] giving a total electric output of 29 MW.[26] Two 9 MW electric motors augment the power on the 150 meter main propellershaft,[37] the longest in the world.[39]
Two bow and two stern thrusters provide port manoeuvrability, and two pairs ofstabilizer fins reduce rolling.[37] A specialsilicone-based paint, instead ofbiocides used by much of the industry, keepsbarnacles off the hull.[21] This increases her efficiency by reducing drag while also protecting theocean from biocides that may leak. The paint is credited with lowering the waterdrag enough to save 1,200 tonnes of fuel per year.[40] The ship has abulbous bow, a standard feature for cargo ships.
The turning diameter at 44 km/h (24 knots) is 1.50 km (0.81 nmi). The engine is near midship to make best use of the rigidity of the hull and to maximize capacity.[39] When the ship rolls 20 degrees, the bridge sways 35 metres.[41] The ship's anchors weigh 29 tons each and each chain-link weighs 200 kg.[42]
Her regular round trip is between northern Europe and the far east via theEnglish Channel, theStrait of Gibraltar and theSuez Canal, calling atNingbo,Xiamen,Hong Kong (westbound),Yantian (westbound),Algeciras (westbound),Rotterdam,Bremerhaven, Algeciras (eastbound), Yantian (eastbound), Hong Kong (eastbound), and Ningbo.[6][43][44]
As of April 2011[update], the schedule includedGdańsk,Aarhus, andGothenburg.[45]
