CMA CGM names 4th 23,000 TEU LNG-powered boxship

French container shipping major CMA CGM has named its fourth LNG-powered 23,000 TEU ultra large containership, the CMA CGM Louvre.

The naming ceremony was held on December 22 in Shanghai.

She is the 4th of the nine 23,000 LNG-powered vessels CMA CGM ordered back in 2017, built by Jiangnan Shipyard.

It is estimated that an LNG-powered vessel emits up to 20% less CO2 than fuel-powered systems. This technology is one of the initial ways in which the CMA CGM Group plans to meet its target of being carbon-neutral by 2050.

The newbuilding is set to join CMA CGM’s French Asia Line service.

The French major has already taken delivery of three of nine LNG-powered ULCVs: CMA CGM Palais Royal, CMA CGM Jacques Saade and CMA CGM Champs Elysees. 

Measuring 400 meters in length and 61 meters in width, the ships are the world’s largest container vessels to run on LNG at the moment.

The 23,000 TEU sister ships will be registered on the French International Register (RIF) and named after iconic monuments and landmarks in the French capital (Palais Royal, Louvre, Rivoli, Montmartre, Concorde, Trocadéro and Sorbonne).

They will feature WinGD’s dual-fuel engines and GTT’s 18,600-cbm fuel tank, both largest ever built.

The ships have a straight bow with integrated bulb, rudder and propeller with a redefined design that improves their hydrodynamics, thus reducing energy consumption.

The sister ships will bunker LNG from the MOL-owned and Total-chartered Gas Agility that arrived in Rotterdam in August this year.

The company aims to have a fleet of 26 containerships of various sizes by 2022.