Grete Maersk Comes to Baltimore January 24, 2021

This 366x42m Denmark flagged container ship was built in 2006 by Odense Steel Shipyard in Odense, Denmark and owned by Copenhagen, Denmark based Maersk according to scheepvaartwest which indicates she has a reefer capacity of 900.

According to this Wikipedia page she is one of 6 Gudrun Maersk class ships built by Odense Steep Shipyard and can carry up to 11,078 TEU.

In 2008 she became the largest ship to arrive at Jebel Ali Port in Dubai, United Arab Emirates according to this Emirates 24/7 article.

She had a bad day on May 10, 2011 when she ran aground off the port of Vung Tau, Vietnam according to this Shipwreck Log post. It was hoped she would be refloated at the next high tide, however according to this Offshore Energy article it took until May 16th to refloat her with the help of 7 tugs.

A few months later she became the first Maersk ship to call on Cai Mep International Terminal in Vietnam according to this JOC article.

The captain of this ship, Tommy T. Kristiansen, has an Instagram page where he posts amazing timelapses taken from the bridge of this ship. One of the timelapses is of the arrival to Baltimore that I witnessed! The first bridges in this video is Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay Bridge and the second is Baltimore’s Key Bridge which you can also see in my video below.

This video from 2009 shows this ship as well as another in Nagoya Japan. They appear to be departing but it is not specified. This drone video from 2020 shows her passing under the Verrazzano Bridge in New York. A former captain of this ship, Captain Sorensen has a YouTube channel where timelapses are also posted. This video from 2019 showing a passage of the Panama Canal is an interesting example. Based on recent postings he now appears to be captain of Edith Maersk.

In my 13 minute 4K video below she can be seen arriving on the Patapsco River. Pilot boat Maryland is approaching. Passing ship is Maersk Yukon. Tug Bridget McAllister passes on the far side and then can be seen astern of the ship. As she passes under the Key bridge tug Timothy McAllister can be seen alongside. Compare this scene to the one in Captain Kristiansen’s video above! In the next scene both tugs have lines attached to the ship.

You can view my photography (more than just ships!) here and more videos here.