First stopovers and bunkering of the maxi LNG container ships of CMA CGM

The first three LNG container ships of the French CMA CGM carried out the first stopovers and bunkering of liquid methane in the Port of Rotterdam at the end of 2020 and January 2021, during the normal handling operations of their loads. These are the “ultra large containerships” “Jacques Saadé” and “Champs Elysees” of 23,000 TEU, and the “Tenere”, formerly of 15,000 TEU. The third of the maxi series, the Louvre, was launched last December 22nd in Shanghai, built in the Jiangnan Shipyard.

By 2022, CMA CGM expects to have 26 LNG-powered ships in its fleet, including the other seven 23,000-TEU maxi-large containers and 15,000-TEU ships currently under construction at Chinese and South Korean yards. The smaller ones will mainly operate on Mediterranean routes with a Marseille refueling base and five other similar units are expected to be delivered to the French company by the end of 2022.

The first refuelings in Rotterdam were carried out by Total's Gas Agility tanker, which has a ten-year supply contract with CMA CGM which provides for approximately 270,000 tons of LNG per year when fully operational. Gas Agility is currently the largest LNG bunker ship in the world, with a capacity of 18,600 cubic meters, equal to the capacity of maxi container ships and which guarantees an autonomy of more than two months of navigation.

The “Tenere” was delivered in September 2020 by the South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Samho to the Eastern Pacific Shipping company of Singapore and is in service on the France Asia Line (FAL 1) route of the CMA CGM group which connects Asia with Europe.