Maiden voyage of the World's largest ship mapped

Over the past 45 days, shipping enthusiasts around the world have been following with keen interest the passage of the Maersk McKinney Moller, the world's largest ship, on its maiden voyage from Asia to Europe. For those unable to make it to one of the ports of call, services such as marinetraffic.com and Maersk's excellent use of its social media channels kept us up to date on the ship's progress. The interactive map at the bottom of this post seeks to capture some of those moments.

Named after the now deceased former CEO of Maersk shipping line, the Maersk McKinney Moller has a capacity of 18000TEU (ie 18000 twenty foot containers). To put the sheer size of the vessel into context, this capacity is equivalent to:

• 111 million pairs of shoes or 
• 36000 cars or 
• 182 million iPads

The previous record of 16000TEU was held by CMA CGM's Marco Polo.

The Maersk McKinney Moller is the first of 20 ships in the new Triple-E class which Maersk will be bringing on online within the next 2 years. The Triple-E class of vessels are so named because of the Economy of scale, Energy efficiency and Environmental improvements they are designed to achieve.

For example, these ships will reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 50% per container moved. According to Maersk the main innovations which contribute to this reduction are:

• Two ‘ultra-long stroke’ engines, an innovative efficient shape and advanced waste heat recovery system saving up to 10% of main engine power.

• Two four-blade propellers instead of the 6-blade larger propeller found on Maersk E-type class vessels.

The second Triple-E vessel, Majestic Maersk has being deployed and is currently enroute to Europe on its maiden journey. The third vessel, Mary Maersk, is undergoing sea trials.

The ships are being built Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) of South Korea at a cost of US $190 million each.
Following is an interactive map of Maersk McKinney Moller's maiden journey. Click on the icons to view pictures and video of the ship.

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