Container Shipping Witnesses a New Generation of Vessels Born

FRANCE – Shipping and logistics giant, CMA CGM has launched what it claims is the world's largest containership powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG). Named in honour of the company's founder, the CMA CGM Jacques Saade is the first in a new fleet of nine French-flagged 23,000 TEU, LNG powered container vessels, all fitted with an extensive array of environmentally-friendly technologies.

In 2017, Rodolphe Saadé announced his decision to order a series of nine 23,000-TEU containerships that would be the world’s first ever to be powered by liquefied natural gas. In December last year the company actually took delivery of the first in a series of much smaller 1,400 TEU vessels, also powered by LNG.

By way of this policy CMA CGM says that it has reaffirmed its commitment to safeguard the environment and lead the industry’s energy transition. A clean energy, as compared to traditional heavy fuel oil LNG helps to reduce:

• emissions of sulphur oxides and fine particles by 99%
• nitrogen oxides emissions by up to 85%
• carbon dioxide emissions by around 20%

This new tranche of huge vessels will join the Group's fleet in 2020 on the French Asia Line (Asia-Northern Europe) and will be registered in the French International Register (RIF), confirming the Group's commitment to operating under the French flag.

The nine new builds will feature a state-of-the-art bridge design, the world’s first to deliver major innovations to assist the Captain and crew:

• a tactical display offering enhanced map views for more dynamic navigation briefings
• a path prediction system optimised to display the ship’s predicted position in the next three minutes
• a smart eye system projecting a bird’s-eye view of the ship’s surrounding area via augmented reality screens offering the crew precise information on the ship's rate of rotation, distance from the wharf and transverse speeds.

The first vessel in this new class of 23,000-TEU LNG-powered containerships, the CMA CGM Jacques Saade will also be equipped with a smart system to manage ventilation for the reefer containers carried in the hold.

To further improve the environmental performance of the CMA CGM Jacques Saade and her sister ships, their hull forms have been hydro-dynamically optimised. The bulb has been seamlessly integrated into the hull profile and the bow is straight. The propeller and rudder blade have also been improved, along with the Becker Twisted Fin®.

The exceptionally large vessels, which measures 400 metres long by 61 metres wide, will be distinguished from the rest of the fleet by a special livery proudly displaying an ‘LNG POWERED’ logo, attesting to the major worldwide innovation that LNG propulsion represents on ships of this size.

By naming the world's first LNG-powered, 23,000-TEU container ship CMA CGM Jacques Saade, the Group says it has symbolically given the name of its Founder to its future flagship. A visionary entrepreneur, Jacques Saadé built CMA CGM into one of the world’s leading maritime shipping companies, while maintaining its family dimension and strong values.

In this way, the company says that he left a lasting mark on the entire shipping industry. During the launch event, Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group, made what must have been an emotional speech for him, saying:

“With the launching of the first 23,000-TEU ship powered by Liquefied Natural Gas, we demonstrate that energy transition can be effectively successful in our industry if all the players work together. It paves the way to a global shipping approach where economic growth and competitiveness can coexist with sustainability and the fight against climate change.”