Maersk Line orders 16 new container vessels

maersk line is pleased to announce that a.p. moller – maersk has signed an agreement with daewoo shipbuilding ａnd marine engineering co. ltd. in korea for the delivery of 16 container vessels in 2010﹣12. the vessels have individual capacities of 7,450 teu (twenty﹣foot equivalent unit) ａnd they are equipped with reefer plugs enabling them to carry 1,700 refrigerated containers each. this is the highest number ever carried on a container vessel. 
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﹔the ships are designed to meet the highest demａnds for safe ａnd economic transportation of goods in the trade to ａnd ｆrom the east coast of south america. in addition, each vessel is equipped with a waste heat recovery system. the system reuses excess heat ｆrom the exhaust ａnd thus generates energy for propulsion of the vessel or on﹣board electricity consumption. the reduction in fuel consumption results in a corresponding reduction of emissions. 
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“we are very excited with this order ａnd the opportunities these vessels will provide our customers in south america. we are confident that the vessels will enable us to continue to offer competitive container shipping based on a modern, economical, ａnd environmentally friendly fleet,” says senior vice president michel deleuran, head of network &﹔ product in maersk line. 
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maersk line expects to deploy the 16 vessels in the trades between the east coast of south america ａnd asia ａnd europe. michel deleuran adds, “we expect a continued strong growth in these markets﹔ we believe that this order shows our long﹣term commitment to providing service ａnd support to our customers’ increasing business in the aforementioned trades” 
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brazil ａnd argentina, especially, have fast growing consumer markets. in the last five years, the trade between asia ａnd the east coast of south america has grown more than 20％ per year on average. in the next five years, growth is expected to remain in the double digits. 
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the trade between the east coast of south america ａnd europe is primarily driven by the export of food products such as poultry, meat, ａnd fruit transported in refrigerated containers. since 2002, the trade has grown 15％ on a yearly average. this growth is expected to remain strong with increased containerisation opportunities in the coming years. 
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today, maersk line is represented, with its own offices, in all ｃountries in the region. we operate five weekly services between the east coast of south america ａnd the main markets in asia, europe, west africa, ａnd the mｉddle east. the east coast market consists of brazil, argentina, uruguay, ａnd paraguay thus including the most important markets in south america.