THE GEOGRAPHY OF TRANSPORT SYSTEMS


Year "Triple E Class" (projected 2013) "E Class" (Emma Maersk) "S Class" (Sovereign Maersk)
Capacity (TEU) 18,000 14,500 8,400
Length (meters) 400 393 348
Width (meters) 59 56 43
Draft (meters) 16.5 15.5 14
Deadweight (tons) 165,000 156,900 105,000
Speed (knots) 23 (19 optimal) 25.5 25

Specifications for Very Large Post-Panamax Containerships

The threshold for containerized maritime shipping is restricted the capacity of three of the world's major bottlenecks: the Panama Canal, the Suez Canal and the strait of Malacca. The Emma Maersk class, introduced in 2006, is essentially a Suez-max ship. Ship designs for a "Triple E Class" have been ordered and will be introduced in 2013. They would likely mark to largest commercially feasible ship class for containers. However, their size would imply that only a few ports could handle them, which questions the practical limits of economies of scale. The ultimate containership class, would be the "Malacca Max" with a draft of 21 meters. However, such a ship class would carry about 35,000 TEU and would be of such a dimension that no gantry crane equipment is currently designed to handle. Additionally, few port facilities would be able to accommodate such ships.