Containerships, an Intra-European carrier and a subsidiary of the CMA CGM Group, has taken delivery of its fourth containership powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), the 1,380-TEU Containerships Arctic.
Once it will have made its way from Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard to Europe, the vessel’s first LNG bunkering will be carried out in Rotterdam. There, it will fuel an approximate of 200 metric tons of liquefied natural gas via ship-to-ship bunkering.
The ship will then be phased into CMA CGM’s Baltic feeder services, before joining Containerships’ BALT-1 shortsea line in early 2021.
The boxship joins its sister ships Containerships Aurora, Containerships Nord and Containerships Polar.
Two more ships are expected to join the series, as Containerships said in October 2018 that it had signed a preliminary agreement for the fifth and sixth ships in the class but is yet to provide an update on the deal.
The Handy container vessels feature a length of 170 meters and a width of 27 meters. They are suited for the navigational and climatic challenges of the operational area in Northern Europe and the Baltics.
CMA CGM plans to add a total of twenty LNG-fueled containerships by 2022 , including nine 22,000 TEU mega-ships, as part of its commitment to cut its carbon footprint.
Other initiatives under its environmental umbrella include a new reduction target of an additional 30% by 2025, utilization of biofuel as marine fuel, made from recycled vegetable oils and forest residues, as well as the development of numerous advanced eco-technologies, such as optimization of bows’ shape for better hydrodynamic efficiency, innovations on the propellers and the engines to reduce fuel and oil consumption.