15 February 2024 (Lloyd's List) - CMA CGM has taken delivery of the first of a 10-ship series of 2,000 teu, LNG-fuelled vessels for the European and Mediterranean trades, which it says will help push a modal shift from road to sea.

CMA CGM Mermaid (IMO: 9961283) and its sisterships were ordered from Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, part of Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering, in 2021 for an aggregate price of $627m.

The first six of the vessels will join the northern Europe trade between April and July to serve Baltic and Scandinavian ports from hubs in Hamburg and Bremerhaven. Four other ships will join the Mediterranean line between the end of September and the end of November.

“This delivery is part of CMA CGM’s fleet renewal programme, in which the group has invested more than $15bn,” CMA CGM said in a release.

“It brings the group one step closer to meeting its objective of net zero carbon by 2050. By 2028, nearly 120 ships will be powered by low-carbon energies.”

The ships were designed in collaboration with France’s Chantiers de l’Atlantique, and include many innovations for shortsea work, CMA CGM said.

“One of the original characteristics of the design is the ratio of 204 m long to 29 m wide to improve the ships’ hydrodynamic and aerodynamic performance,” it said.

The plumb stem and bulbous bow design are said to help with hydrodynamic performance, reducing fuel consumption by 15%. The vessels are also the first ordered by CMA CGM to put the accommodation block at the front of the vessel, a move also favoured by Maersk for its series of methanol-fuelled 16,000 teu boxships.

The last vessel in the series, due for delivery in January 2025, will also feature a 1 MW hydrogen fuel-cell, allowing the vessel to have zero emissions when berthed, and all the ships will be convertible to lower emission e-methane when that becomes available.

The stowage arrangements also allow for non-standard 45 ft containers favoured by road and rail transport, which CMA CGM says it hopes will encourage more cargo to ship by sea over short distances around northern Europe and the Mediterranean.

CMA CGM’s fleet stands at more than 630 vessels comprising 3.6m teu, with another 1.1m teu on order. Of these, 30 are already using alternative energy sources, it said.