MSC Daniela – World’s Largest Container Ship (by TEU)

Dear (s)

The MSC Daniela is extraordinary not only in terms of size, but also in its design aspects and is the biggest containership ever classed by Germanischer Lloyd (GL) I had shared some technical information of this vessel way back in Dec 2008. At that time I had written :

""A new born to cherish but apprehended to be at a wrong time. Mediterranean Shipping Co SA of Geneva is a privately owned shipping line which owns many fleets has hit the headlines again with the recent delivery of MSC Daniela at Samsung Heavy Industry Shipyard in Geoje, Korea. This vessel is touted to be the biggest container ship ever classed by Germanischer Lloyd (GL) with a 14000 TEU capacity, is a great addition to the list of giant container vessels.

photo of container vessel

Most interestingly the vessel can carry about 7572 TEUs on deck and about 7428 on hold. The vessel is the first to feature a split engine room and accommodation design that brings the bridge forward on the vessel, leaving more container space aft that can be stacked higher. To meet SOLAS requirements for bridge visibility on the large containership, the design includes the separation of deckhouse and engine room. The arrangement of the deckhouse in the forward part of the ship permits an increase in container capacity and a reduction in ballast water. The use of high tensile steels (HTS) was a prerequisite for building the mega boxer. At present MSC Daniela along with other 11000teu vessels MSC Sola & MSC Ivana of a seperate class being built by Daewoo, are due to enter MSC's Far East-Mediterranean “JADE” service which doesnt call at any north European ports. ""

the shape of Daniela

Due to its design, some Ship Analysts even called this 'ugly ship' primarily because of a new feature of the positioning of the bridge not above the main engine, which is the case on almost all container vessels. Safety of Life at Sea regulations stipulate how far forward of the vessel the sea must be visible from the bridge. On the majority of containerships with the single superstructure much further aft, the result is a tapering of container stack heights to achieve this. By bringing the bridge further forward, this leaves the majority of the stacks, which are now aft of the bridge, able to be loaded higher. Such positioning would ensure the view from the bridge and to load as many containers as possible . On this vessel the engineroom is positioned on the aftship and the bridge on the foreship.

For very many years, the largest container ship was Emma Maersk, the property of Maersk Group, official carrying capacity of 11000 TEUs ; But this is information from the company about ship's stability. This means that in normal calulation, the cargo capacity of Emma Maersk is more than 11,000 TEUs and is between 13,500 and 14,500 TUE. The difference come from the method of calculating and companies policy. Maersk is calculating the number of containers with weight of every container of 14 tons, while all companies are just calculating the maximum capacty of all containers of board.

MSC Daniela claims to have TEU cargo capacity of 14,000 containers. Building of MSC Daniela was started on 1 July, 2006 and finished and at the end of 2008, then the container ship was crowned as the largest according to cargo capacity. The shipbuilder was Samsung Heavy Industries in Geoje - South Korea. MSC Daniela is the first of eight being built by Samsung Heavy Industries in Korea for the shipowner. Despite the increased nominal capacity, MSC Daniela is 32 m shorter, narrower by 5.2 m and of a similar depth to Emma Maersk. Classed by Germanischer Lloyd, the vessel has seven main cargo holds and deck connections for 1,000 40 ft reefer containers.

The vessel has also been built using a higher-tensile steel, allowing plate thickness to be reduced to give a more lightweight construction. Germanischer Lloyd said the design allows less bending and increased hull stiffness.

The MSC Daniela has overall length of 366,00 meters, moulded beam of 51,00 meters and draft, when the ship is fully loaded of 15,00 meters. The deadweight of the vessel is 165,000 metric tons and the gross tonnage is 135,000 gross tons. The ship is large and is in need of strong and reliable engine. The main engine is MAN B&W 12K98MC-C with total output power of 98,280 hp. This is enough for the vessel to realize maximum speed of 25,2 knots, while the cruising one is 23.5 knots.

Aditional Information on MSC Daniela:

IMO number: 9399002

1st name: MSC DANIELA

flag / nationality: Panama

owner: Mediterranean Shipping Company

operator: MSC

completion year: 2008

shipyard: Samsung Shipbuilding & Heavy industries Co. Ltd, South Korea yard / hull number: 1708

engine design: B&W

engine type: 12K98MCC

power output (KW): 68.382

maximum speed (Kn): 25,2

overall length (m): 366,00

overall beam (m): 51,00

maximum draught (m): 15,00

maximum TEU capacity: 14000

container capacity at 14t (TEU): 10500

reefer containers (TEU): 1.000

deadweight (ton): 165.000

gross tonnage (ton): 135.000

handling gear: None

In the world of Bulk carriers MS Berge Stahl is the largest bulk carrier ship in the world and is registered in Norway.She is an Iron ore carrier having a capacity of 364,767 metric tons (DWT). The Berge Stahl is 1,122 feet (343 m), has a beam or width, of 208.3 feet (65 m.

The term Bulk carrier itself is another interesting one and would have reams written of it.  Here is a photo of a bulk carrier .

With regards -  S Sampathkumar.

Photo courtesy : various web sites. This is absolutely non professional, non commercial blog and posted in sharing some information with friendly groups.