...and it breaths fire too !

AP Moller - Maersk Group shocks the "box shipping" world by launching the Emma Maersk (pictured on the right - from JTA Ship Photo) from the company's Odense Yard in Denmark, on August 12th 2006. Shock because the official box count from Maersk is set at 11,600 Twenty Foot Equivalent (TEU), but popular sizing suggest a total capacity of 13,500 - 14,500 TEU; well above any other container ship carrying capacity. The Emma Maersk and Estelle Maersk, launched October 2nd 2006, are the lead vessels of an 11 ship "E" class series of ships.

Below is from the The Scandinavian Shipping Gazette...

"It has also been revealed that the Emma Mærsk is fitted with the largest diesel engine ever manufactured. A 14-cylinder 96 cm Wärtsilä engine of Flex-type with electronic control developing some 80,080 kW, has been built for this huge containership. Furthermore, the engine room is filled with auxiliary engines adding around 40,000 hp for servicing reefer containers. Added to these is a huge shaft-generator and a turbo-generator using exhaust heat from the funnel. The service speed will as usual be around 25 knots, which is a standard term in Maersk Line, but again it is likely that the Emma Mærsk will be capable of much more speed if needed, to make up for lost time in the tight schedules."

The nearly 400 meter, 150,000 hp ship is crewed by only 13 people. Registered in the Danish city of Taarbæk commanded by Captain Henrik Solmer with Michael Thomassen Sort as Chief Engineer. It will run on Maersk Asia-Europe service by going through the Suez Canal starting from the Swedish City of Gothenburg and retuning 63 days later. The maiden voyage will end in Denmark's second largest city, Århus, on November 18.

On the June 14th posting on this Blog, you were first introduced to the ship after some dramatic pictures of the ship's bridge, fully engulfed in a shipyard fire surfaced (see "Big trouble for big ship in yard"). The fire, reportedly caused by welding, destroyed the nearly completed accommodation and wheelhouse structure. The fire caused a seven week delay, during that time the superstructure was cut out and a new one fitted and completed.

Emma Mærsk
Homeport: Taarbæk
Built: Odense Staalskibsværft. Hull no. 203
Owner: A.P. Møller-Mærsk A/S
Length o.a. 397.71 m
Length b.p. 376.0 m
Width: 56.40 m
Draft: 15.5 m
Hight of hull: 30.2 m
Gross tonnage: 170,974 bt
Net tonnage : 55,396 nt
Deadweight: 156,907 DWT
Main engine: Wärtsilä 14RT-Flex96c, 80,080 kW (109,000 hp)
Speed: >25.5 knots
Auxiliary: 5 x Caterpillar (MAK) 8M32, 40,000 hp