CMA CGM launches first LNG-powered containership

The CMA CGM Group has taken the delivery of the CMA CGM Mermaid, the first ship in a series of 10 new 2,000 TEU containerships powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The containerships will join the carrier’s fleet of about 620 vessels, including more than 30 that are already powered by alternative energies.

The ships will reportedly produce up to 20 per cent more CO2 than a comparable-sized ship using a normal marine fuel design (extremely low sulphur oil).

This delivery is part of CMA CGM’s fleet replacement programme, for which the company has committed more than $15 billion in an effort to achieve Net Zero Carbon by 2050.

According to the group, the ships were designed in close collaboration with Chantiers de l’Atlantique, a French business based in Saint-Nazaire that is well-known for its ship design and building competence.

The Danish engineering firm Odense Marine Technique (OMT) further converted the concept into an industrial prototype

CMA CGM entrusted the construction of the ships to the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD), located in South Korea.

Finally, GTT, a French company expert in technologies for the maritime transport and storage of LNG, worked closely on the project for the design and conception of the gas chain and storage tank with a total capacity of 1,053 cubic metres.

CMA CGM reported that the 10 new vessels will be delivered in stages between February 2024 and January 2025 to transport products over short distances, mostly in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean.

Between April and July, six of the series will join the Intra-Northern-Europe route, serving Baltic and Scandinavian ports from Hamburg and Bremerhaven. Four additional ships will join the Intra-Mediterranean route between the end of September and the end of November.