Big ... bigger ... super-post-Panamax. (containership)

Report shows definite trend toward giant post-Panamax containerships, although the savings don't seem huge.

A 6,000-TEU "super-post-Panamax" with a modern ship design has a 21 percent lower voyage cost per slot per year than a 4,000-TEU Panamax vessel, according to a report by Drewry Shipping Consultants.

The report, "Post-Panamax Containerships -- 6,000-TEU and Beyond," seeks to quantify the advantage of very large containerships and to understand the rationale and commercial impact behind the recent deluge of orders of post-Panamax container ships.

"In total, a super-post-Panamax containership (of 6,000 TEUs) could be estimated to generate annual operating and voyage costs of …