The largest, most efficient ship in the world

The construction of ten Triple-E vessels, each capable of carrying 18,000 twenty foot containers, will put Maersk Line at the helm of change. The size and capacity of these vessels, at 400 metres long and 59 metres wide, will help reduce energy consumption and lower CO2 emissions.

Facts at a glance:
• A Triple-E class vessel is equipped with a waste heat recovery system, saving up to 10% of main engine power. This equals the average annual electrical consumption of 5,000 European households.
• The Triple-E class travels 184 kilometres using 1 kWh of energy per ton of cargo, whereas a jumbo jet travels half a kilometre using the same amount of energy per ton of cargo.
• The vessel can carry 18,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEU). If all these containers were to be put on a train - it would need to be 110 km long - and if they were put on top of each other they would almost reach beyond the stratosphere (47 km).

Maersk Line's new Triple-E class will be the world's largest ships, a record 400 meters long and 59 meters wide. Triple E stands for Energy efficiency, Environmental performance and Economies of scale. Environmental performance refers to the recyclability and reuse ensured by the cradle-to-cradle passport -- and the extremely low fuel consumption. Energy efficiency is partly derived from the unconventional hull design and the twin propulsion setup. Economies of scale can be attributed to the capacity of more than 18.000 containers reducing the cost of moving a container by 20-30 per cent compared to other vessels in the Asia-Europe trade lane.

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