Launched in 2006 , the Emma Maersk was the world ’ s largest container ship in 2010 . Along with seven sister vessels , the ship was part of the largest container fleet at the time . The vessel has a total TEU capacity of 14,770 , a tonnage of 170,794 and usually carries a crew of 13-30 people . The Emma Maersk is operated by A . P . Moller-Maersk Group . The Emma Maersk was the first E-class container ship and marked the end of massive container ships able to approach 30 knots as manufacturers began to value carrying capacity over speed . 26 December 2017