Photo: Dr. Theo Notteboom, 2009.
Launched in 2006, the Evelyn Maersk is part of the (‘E’) class of containerships with a capacity of around 14,000 TEU. The vessels in this class have 397 meters in length, a width of 56 meters, and a deadweight of 156,907 tons. For this impressive size, only a crew of 13 is required. Depending on the load configuration, its capacity is in the range of 12,000 to 13,500 TEU, which can be accommodated in rows of 22 containers wide. A problem related to this class of containership concerns its draft of 17.5 meters (57 feet), limiting the number of port terminals it can call to, placing this ship in the Post Panamax category.
The above photo depicts the Evelyn Maersk at the APM terminal in the port of Algeciras, Spain. Handling a Post Panamax containership requires about 150 moves per hour, which transcribes using five cranes able to handle 30 moves per hour each.