French shipping group CMA CGM has taken delivery of the last of nine ultra-large LNG-powered containerships built in China.
Chinese shipbuilder Hudong-Zhonghua held the official delivery ceremony for the 23,000 TEU CMA CGM Sorbonne at its yard on Changxing Island, Shanghai on Tuesday.
This delivery, the fifth for Hudong in this batch, marked 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 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.