French shipping group CMA CGM will soon take delivery of the last of nine ultra-large LNG-powered containerships following the completion of sea trials.
Chinese shipbuilder Hudong-Zhonghua says the 23,000 TEU CMA CGM Sorbonne completed both its sea and gas trials during a single voyage and returned to its yard on Changxing Island, Shanghai on May 28.
According to Hudong, this marks the world’s first “two-in-one” sea trial for a large dual-fueled containership. The move helped save costs and time.
Hudong should deliver Sorbonne by the end of June, marking the completion of the entire project which included building nine of the world’s largest LNG-powered vessels.
Jiangnan recently delivered Trocadero, the eighth ULCV in this batch and the last of four vessels the Chinese yard built for France’s CMA CGM. Jiangnan and Hudong are both part of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC).
The nine LNG-powered giants feature WinGD’s dual-fuel engines and GTT’s 18,600-cbm fuel tank.
In addition, the vessels are 400 meters long and 61 meters wide and will serve CMA CGM’s Europe-Asia route.
CMA CGM is heavily investing in LNG as fuel and expects to have 44 LNG-powered ships in its fleet by 2024.
These include the nine ULCVs and five 15,000 TEU ships on order in China but also chartered vessels from Singapore’s Eastern Pacific.
Most recently, CMA CGM has ordered twelve additional LNG-powered containerships at Hudong and Jiangnan.
