The series was ordered from Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2007 to 2008 and delivered starting July 2010. The client of the series is the Hamburg-based Rickmers Group and were chartered to Maersk. The and are also based on the same design, but both broader.
The Maersk Edinburgh class, along with the Explorer class were designed for a slow steaming container service from Europe to East Asia. The beginning of the service with the abbreviations FAL 5 and AE8 was already planned for the summer of 2009, but was not realised due to the financial crisis of 2007–2008. It will run through the ports of Le Havre, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Port Kelang, Singapore, Ningbo, Shanghai, Shenzhen-Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Port Kelang, and back to Le Havre. As of 2010, the ships of the Maersk Edinburgh class were introduced to the FAL5 / AE8 Far East Europe service.
The Maersk Elba visited Gdansk on May 11, 2011, becoming the largest container vessel ever handled by a Baltic Sea port, and then visited Port of Haifa in 2017 to set a record for the largest ship to dock in Israel.
| Ship | Previous names | Yard number | IMO number | In service date | Operator | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ships built for Rickmers | |||||||
| Pearl Rickmers (2010) | 2150 | 9456757 | 5 Jul 2010 | Maersk Line | |||
| Ruby Rickmers (2010) | 2151 | 9456769 | 9 Jul 2010 | Maersk Line | |||
| Aqua Rickmers (2010) | 2152 | 9456771 | 16 Aug 2010 | Maersk Line | |||
| Coconee Rickmers (2010) | 2153 | 9456783 | 31 Aug 2010 | Maersk Line | |||
| Leo Rickmers (2011) | 2170 | 9458030 | 18 Feb 2011 | Maersk Line | |||
| Scorpio Rickmers* | 2171 | 9458078 | 10 Mar 2011 | Maersk Line | |||
| Tauro Rickmers* | 2172 | 9458080 | 1 Jun 2011 | Maersk Line | |||
| Libra Rickmers* | 2173 | 9458092 | 22 Jul 2011 | Maersk Line | |||
| Ships built for Zodiac Maritime | |||||||
| Maersk Edison (2011–2017) | S433 | 9463011 | 12 Jan 2011 | CMA CGM | |||
| Maersk Erving (2011–2017) | S434 | 9463023 | 2 Mar 2011 | CMA CGM | |||
| Maersk Eubank (2011–2018) | S435 | 9463035 | 30 Mar 2011 | MSC | |||
| Maersk Enfield (2011–2012)CMA CGM Enfield (2012–2013)Maersk Enfield (2013–2018) | S436 | 9463047 | 4 May 2011 | MSC | |||
| Maersk Effingham (2011–2012)CMA CGM Effingham (2012–2013)Maersk Effingham (2013–2018) | S437 | 9463059 | 15 Jun 2011 | MSC | |||
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