Chinese shipbuilder Hudong-Zhonghua has kicked off construction on the fifth of six LNG-powered 13,000-teu containerships it is building for French shipping group CMA CGM.
Hudong-Zhonghua said in a statement on February 28 it held a steel-cutting ceremony for CMA CGM’s LNG-powered containership with a working name H1843A.
The shipbuilder and Jiangnan Shipyard are each building six LNG-powered ships for CMA CGM as part of a deal revealed in April 2021, but the six vessels at Jiangnan have a capacity of 15,000 units.
Moreover, the new LNG-powered vessels will feature GTT’s Mark III containment system and WinGD’s dual-fuel propulsion, such as the nine LNG-powered ULCVs already built at the two yards.
The vessel’s LNG tanks will have a capacity of 14,000 cbm.
LNG carrier
Besides the containership, the Chinese shipbuilder hosted a keel-laying ceremony for the first of six new 174,000-cbm LNG carriers it is building for Japan’s MOL and compatriot CNOOC.
The vessel with a working name H1880A will have a capacity of 174,000 cbm.
Part of Hudong-Zhonghua’s fifth-generation Changxeng series, the six 299 meters long vessels will feature WinGD’s X-DF dual-fuel engines and also GTT’s NO96 Super+ containment system.
MOL, in a partnership with COSCO Shipping’s unit CSLNG, ordered these six vessels from Hudong-Zhonghua in January last year for about $1.17 billion.