In May 2010, her sister ship Ebba Mærsk set a record of 15,011 TEU in Tanger-Med, Tangier.

She was named in a ceremony on 12 August 2006, after Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller's late wife, Emma.

On 16 August 2006, five tugboats dragged Emma Maersk from her Danish shipyard and towed her backward to the sea.

She sailed the next day for Yantian in Shenzhen, then Kobe, Nagoya, arriving at Yokohama on 10 October 2006, and returning via Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Tanjung Pelepas, the Suez Canal, Felixstowe, Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Gothenburg to Aarhus, arriving on 11 November 2006 at 16:00 hours.

[8] Going eastwards on 1 February 2013, she suffered a damaged stern thruster and took on so much water in the Suez Canal that she became unmaneuverable.

On 15 February 2013, the Maersk Line confirmed that she was about to leave Port Said under tow to a yard for further assessment and repair.

[27][28] On 21 February 2011, Maersk ordered a family of ten even larger ships from Daewoo, the Triple E class, with a capacity of 18,000 containers.

[29][30] She is powered by a Wärtsilä-Sulzer 14RTFLEX96-C engine, the world's largest single diesel unit, weighing 2,300 tonnes and capable of 81 MW (109,000 hp) when burning 14,000 litres (3,600 US gal) of heavy fuel oil per hour.

[26] Two 9 MW electric motors augment the power on the 150 meter main propeller shaft,[37] the longest in the world.

[39] Two bow and two stern thrusters provide port manoeuvrability, and two pairs of stabilizer fins reduce rolling.