New vessel customised for West Africa

Named after the capital of Guinea, "Maersk Conakry" and the 21 other West Africa MAX (“WAFMAX”) vessels on order from Hyundai will as per shipowner be the largest container ships able to call West Africa. They are also the most fuel-efficient, using 30 percent less fuel per container moved than the industry average on the Asia-Africa trade.

Once a market served entirely by small ‘feeder’ vessels operating from hubs like Algeciras, Spain, the 4,500 TEU carrying WAFMAX vessels are purpose-built to provide Maersk Line’s Asian customers with direct services to West African ports. The ships will be 250 metres long with a draught of 13.5 metres, the maximum size allowable in West African ports. 150 plugs for reefer containers are available. Some of the vessels will be equipped with onboard cranes (so-called ‘geared’ vessels) to enable calls at ports without standing cranes.

Coming vessels are to be delivered this year and in 2012.