Rickmers christens four containerships

Each of the four ships, Pearl Rickmers, Ruby Rickmers, Aqua Rickmers and Coconee Rickmers, has a service speed of 24.3 knots and have been chartered long-term to Maersk Line and will join Maersk’s “E-class” as Maersk Edinburgh, Maersk Emden, Maersk Eindhoven and Maersk Essen.

The ships will be delivered one by one during July and August 2010, and phase in to Maersk’s new joint service with CMA CGM linking Asia and North Europe. As Maersk’s AE8 service, it will deploy ten ships of this size, each partner contributing five. The port rotation will be:

Ningbo – Shanghai – Yantian – Tanjung Pelepas – Port Kelang – Le Havre – Hamburg – Rotterdam – Zeebrugge – Port Kelang – Singapore – Ningbo.