MAERSK VALENCIA (IMO 9344954) Table Bay, Cape Town

MAERSK VALENCIA IMO 9344954: Maersk Container Ship Profile

Explore MAERSK VALENCIA (IMO 9344954), a 1,740-TEU container ship built in China in 2006, and examine her history, design and role in regional shipping.

Photographer's Note: MAERSK VALENCIA (IMO 9344954)  was photographed by Vernon Chalmers in Table Bay, Cape Town. The image forms part of the Vernon Chalmers Photography Maritime Studies Project and is also published in the Shipspotting.com database.

MAERSK VALENCIA (IMO 9344954) is a 1,740-TEU container ship built by Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard in China in 2006. Originally HANSA LAUENBURG and later VIKING EAGLE, she became MAERSK VALENCIA in 2017. Her career illustrates the continuing importance of medium-sized container vessels in regional and international maritime networks.

MAERSK VALENCIA (IMO 9344954)

MAERSK VALENCIA (IMO 9344954) is a useful example of the medium-sized container ships that form an important, but sometimes overlooked, part of the global liner network. At approximately 18,327 gross tonnes and 175 metres in length, she is considerably smaller than the major ocean-going container vessels associated with the contemporary Maersk fleet. Her 1,740-TEU capacity, however, places her in an operational niche that remains fundamental to container shipping: connecting regional ports with larger maritime hubs. (Flexport Atlas)

Built in China in 2006, the vessel has also experienced the changes in ownership, management, naming and employment that are characteristic of commercial shipping. Her history therefore provides a small but revealing window into the development of container shipping during the first decades of the twenty-first century.

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Construction and Design

MAERSK VALENCIA was constructed by Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard in Guangzhou, China, as yard number GWS319. Her keel was laid on 1 November 2004, she was launched on 3 November 2005 and delivered on 20 January 2006. She belongs to the Wenchong 1700 design series, a group of container vessels developed for the growing feeder and regional liner market. (ship-db.de)

The ship measures approximately 175.5 metres overall, with a beam of about 27.4 metres and a depth of 10.9 metres. Her gross tonnage is approximately 18,327, while summer deadweight is about 23,482 tonnes. Her nominal container capacity is 1,740 TEU, placing her comfortably within the medium-sized container-ship sector rather than the increasingly large mainline vessels that now dominate many major trade routes. (ship-db.de)

Her machinery reflects the conventional propulsion philosophy of her generation. Ship records identify a MAN-B&W low-speed diesel engine producing approximately 15,820 kW and driving a single propeller. Her recorded maximum speed was approximately 20.5 knots, with a service speed around 19.5 knots. The vessel was also equipped with two 45-tonne cargo cranes, giving her greater operational independence than many larger container ships that depend almost entirely on shore-based cargo-handling infrastructure. (ship-db.de)

This combination of moderate dimensions, substantial deadweight and onboard cargo-handling capability was particularly appropriate for regional container services. It allowed vessels of this type to serve ports where infrastructure, draft restrictions or cargo volumes did not justify the deployment of much larger ships.

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A Changing Commercial Identity

MAERSK VALENCIA's history is particularly interesting because the vessel did not begin her career under the Maersk name. She entered service in 2006 as HANSA LAUENBURG. In January 2013 she was renamed VIKING EAGLE, before becoming MAERSK VALENCIA in 2017. The IMO number, however, remained 9344954 throughout these changes, providing the permanent identity of the hull. (ship-db.de)

The sequence illustrates an important principle in maritime identification. A vessel's commercial identity can change several times during its working life as ownership, chartering arrangements or operating companies change. The IMO number provides continuity through those changes. For the maritime observer and ship photographer, this is especially important when researching older photographs or tracing a vessel's career across different databases.

The transition to the MAERSK VALENCIA name in 2017 also demonstrates how major liner companies can incorporate existing tonnage into their networks rather than relying exclusively on newly built vessels. Contemporary ShipSpotting records document her under the Maersk name at ports including Valencia, Algeciras and Mersin. (Shipspotting)

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The Role of a 1,740-TEU Container Ship

A vessel such as MAERSK VALENCIA occupies a different operational space from the enormous container ships now exceeding 20,000 TEU. Her value lies not in maximum scale but in flexibility.

At 1,740 TEU, she is well suited to regional and feeder operations, moving containers between smaller ports and major transshipment centres. Such ships effectively extend the reach of the container network. A container does not need to travel directly from its origin to its final destination on one giant vessel. Instead, it may move through a sequence of regional and intercontinental services, with smaller vessels such as MAERSK VALENCIA providing essential links between them.

Her two 45-tonne cranes are also significant. Shipboard cargo gear can be particularly useful on routes involving ports with more limited container-handling facilities. This gives a vessel greater flexibility in choosing and serving ports, an important characteristic of regional container shipping. (Shipspotting)

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Contemporary South African Connection

MAERSK VALENCIA remains relevant to South African maritime observation. Recent vessel-tracking records show her operating in the Indian Ocean and southern African region, including movements associated with Port Louis and Cape Town. Flexport records her as a Singapore-flagged container ship with a 1,740-TEU capacity, while other tracking data record recent calls and movements involving South African ports. (Flexport Atlas)

Her current operational pattern demonstrates how the role of medium-sized container ships continues to evolve. Rather than being obsolete in an era of giant container vessels, ships of this size remain valuable precisely because they can operate efficiently on regional networks. Their economic function complements rather than simply competes with that of the largest ships.

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An Incident in the Maritime Record

MAERSK VALENCIA also appears in the maritime security record. In October 2023, the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) recorded a petty-theft incident while the vessel was berthed at Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia. After departure, the crew discovered that the outboard engine of the rescue boat was missing. A search was conducted, but the item was not recovered; the crew were reported safe and uninjured. (SAFETY4SEA)

Although relatively minor compared with major maritime casualties, such incidents form part of the operational reality of commercial shipping. They also demonstrate why maritime security remains relevant even when a vessel is engaged in routine container-port operations.

Conclusion

MAERSK VALENCIA is not a record-breaking ship, and that is precisely what makes her interesting. She represents the substantial middle layer of the container fleet: ships large enough to carry meaningful volumes of international trade, yet compact enough to operate on regional networks and visit ports that would be unsuitable for the largest container vessels.

Built at Guangzhou Wenchong in 2006 as HANSA LAUENBURG, renamed VIKING EAGLE in 2013 and MAERSK VALENCIA in 2017, she has passed through several commercial identities while retaining the same IMO number and fundamental role as a container carrier. (ship-db.de)

For maritime observation, MAERSK VALENCIA therefore offers more than an attractive photographic subject. She represents the continuity of the container-shipping system: large ships move enormous volumes between major hubs, while vessels of approximately 1,700 TEU provide the regional connections that make the wider network function. Her presence in southern African waters is a reminder that the global container trade is ultimately dependent upon vessels of many different sizes, each occupying a specific operational niche.

Photographic Equipment

Camera: Canon EOS R6 Mark III

Lens: Canon RF 800mm f/11 IS STM Lens

Photographic Genre: Maritime Photography / Ship Spotting

Location: Table Bay, Cape Town, South Africa

References

Flexport. (2026). MAERSK VALENCIA (IMO 9344954): Vessel specifications and voyage information. (Flexport Atlas)

MyShipTracking. (2026). MAERSK VALENCIA — IMO 9344954. (myShipTracking)

ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre. (2024). Annual report 2023. (SAFETY4SEA)

Ship-DB. (2026). HANSA LAUENBURG / VIKING EAGLE / MAERSK VALENCIA — IMO 9344954. (ship-db.de)

ShipSpotting. (2019). MAERSK VALENCIA — IMO 9344954. (Shipspotting)

VesselFinder. (2026). MAERSK VALENCIA — IMO 9344954. (vesselfinder.com)