Maersk Receives Final Vessel in Series of Ten for North-South Americas Routes

The Chinese shipyard Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (YZJ) has delivered the conventionally powered container ship “Yellowstone” to the Japanese shipowner Mitsui & Co. This new vessel, with a capacity of 3,600 TEUs, is the last in a series of ten sister ships that Mitsui & Co (8 ships) and Nissen Kaiun (2 ships) have chartered to Maersk under long-term contracts, according to Alphaliner.

These ten new Maersk vessels are compact, with a length of just 200 meters and a beam of 36.4 meters (14 rows). They are fully equipped with three cranes mounted on the central line. Additionally, they are powered by MAN B&W 6G 70ME-C10.5 diesel engines, producing 16,980 kW for a service speed of up to 20 knots. Furthermore, electricity for refrigerated containers is supplied through 750 connections.

It is noteworthy that these new Maersk vessels are well-suited to the needs of shipping fruit cargoes on the north-south regional routes of the Americas. Specifically, the new “Maersk Yellowstone” is set to make its maiden voyage from China to Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia. The subsequent deployment of the vessel has not yet been disclosed.

New Negotiations Underway

With the completion of this series of ten vessels, it is believed that Maersk is in advanced negotiations for another series of similarly sized vessels, this time with dual methanol propulsion.

At the end of 2023, it was reported that Maersk was considering both ammonia and methanol as fuel options, and it appears that the shipping line has since chosen methanol and placed orders with the Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard of the CSSC Group. However, it is not yet known if these orders have been finalized.