French shipping giant CMA CGM said it has placed orders for ten LNG dual-fuel containerships and six methanol-fueled vessels, bringing its orderbook to 69 ships.
CMA CGM said in its quarterly report on Friday it has ordered four 23,000-teu dual-fuel LNG-powered containerships and six 7,900-teu LNG-fueled vessels.
The firm did not reveal additional information regarding these orders.
China’s Jiangnan Shipyard and Hudong-Zhonghua already delivered nine LNG-powered giants with a capacity of 23,000 units to CMA CGM.
In June last year, CMA CGM welcomed the ninth and the last vessel in this series, Sorbonne, in its fleet. These LNG-powered giants feature WinGD’s dual-fuel engines and GTT’s 18,600-cbm fuel tank.
One shipbuilding source told LNG Prime on Sunday that Jiangnan and Hudong-Zhonghua were competing to win these new orders for 23,000-teu vessels with South Korean yards.
On the other side, the source said that South Korea’s Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries had won the order for the six 7,900-teu LNG-fueled vessels.
Also, these vessels would feature MAN ME-GI engines and GTT’s Mark III Flex containment system, the source said.
They are tipped to be worth some $120 million, each.
Worth mentioning here, sources and brokers said that CMA CGM had placed an order at South Korea’s Samsung Heavy for four 7,000-teu LNG-powered containerships in March as well.
CMA CGM is one of the world’s biggest backers of LNG as fuel and previously said its fleet would grow to at least 44 vessels by the end of 2024.
First order for methanol-fueled ships
CMA CGM also said in its first-quarter report that six new 15,000-teu dual-fuel methanol-powered vessels would join its fleet by the end of 2025.
This is the company’s first-ever order for such vessels and follows Denmark’s Maersk who ordered twelve 16,000-teu methanol-powered vessels at South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy.
CMA CGM also did not reveal any additional information regarding this order, but sources said that one or more South Korean yards would likely build these vessels.
This first order for methanol-powered vessels is in line with CMA CGM’s strategy to expand its energy mix with the goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“CMA CGM is thus accelerating its decarbonization trajectory by investing massively in gas and methanol fuels. The two sectors will be complementary for decarbonizing shipping industry in the years to come,” it said.
The firm added that its “e-methane ready” fleet currently counts 29 vessels in service and would have a total of 77 ships by 2026.