LNG

Bureau Veritas has classed CMA CGM Notre Dame, a 24,092 TEU LNG dual-fuel ultra-large container ship delivered by Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding, marking the first in a planned series of 24 vessels for CMA CGM.

The French shipping firm CMA CGM is preparing to deploy its new LNG-fuelled containership Notre Dame on its Asia-to-Europe service. The vessel made its maiden call at Yangshan Port in Shanghai on May 22 and is now en route to Le Havre, France, where it will be named in early June. The 24,211 TEU vessel is the first of 10 ships due for delivery through to 2028.

July 1 (LNGJ) - FueLNG, the LNG bunkering company in Singapore, has completed its 200th ship-to-ship operation in the port of the Asian city state. The re-fuelling was conducted by ‘FueLNG Venosa’, which delivered 9,000 cubic metres of LNG fuel to the containership “CMA CGM Bahia” at the Raffles Reserve Anchorage in Singapore.

   “This vessel is part of a new generation of six CMA CGM containerships with an enhanced aerodynamic design,” said the company, which is a joint venture between Seatrium Offshore and Marine and Shell Singapore. “With continued support from its industry partners, customers, and regulatory authorities, FueLNG aims to lead the way in providing cleaner energy solutions for the maritime sector,” it added.

Feb 6 (LNGJ) - CMA CGM, the French containership company based in Marseille that has the most vessels running on LNG fuel and with regular routes into East Mediterranean ports including Beirut in Lebanon, has finally ended operations in the Red Sea because of mounting security concerns.

   “CMA CGM informs its customers that until further notice, all services initially routed via the Red Sea passage will now follow the Cape of Good Hope routing,” explained the company. “The safety of our seafarers remains our priority at all times,” stated CMA CGM. The Red Sea southern approaches to the Suez Canal have been used for the past four months for attacks from Yemen on international shipping by Iran-backed terrorists.

QatarEnergy, the leading LNG exporter to Europe after the US, has suspended the sending of LNG carriers through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait off Yemen after more US-led air strikes against Iran-backed Houthis and continued threats to shipping raised further security concerns.

CMA CGM, the French containership group with a growing proportion of vessels powered by liquefied natural gas, has informed its customers that the severe drought and further transit restrictions affecting the Panama Canal have taken a “severe toll” on operations so that consequently CMA CGM prices will have to be increased.

CMA CGM, the French container shipping line based in the Mediterranean port of Marseille and the third-largest in the world and with a growing fleet of LNG-powered vessels, has a new service to the LNG fuel location of Ennore port on the East Coast of India.

The containerships will expand port coverage with a direct call to Ennore, near Chennai in India, on the Westbound leg of the service connecting North Europe and the Mediterranean with Oceania as from June 2023.

“This new call will offer our customers a fast export connection from the main commercial area in South East India to Europe together with a direct import connection from Australia and Singapore,” said CMA CGM.

“Ennore is also a natural gateway from/to the Inland Container Depot of Bangalore covered with efficient rail connectivity,” added the French company.

The other LNG fuel ports in CMA CGM’s so-called NEMO service include Fos Sur Mer near Marseille, La Spezia in Italy, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Malta and Singapore.

French LNG storage tanks designer GTT is supplying the tanks for six more LNG-powered containerships ordered from South Korea by CMA CGM.

The six containerships are being constructed at the Korean shipyard of Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries.

The vessels, each capable of carrying 8,000 containers, will be equipped with an LNG fuel tank with a capacity of 6,000 cubic metres.

The deliveries of the vessels are scheduled from the fourth quarter of 2024 to the fourth quarter of 2025.

CMA CGM is a pioneer of LNG-powered containerships and has about 12 more of the vessels being built in China.

The shipping line has said it is aiming to have a fleet of 44 LNG-fuelled containerships by 2024.

The 12 China-built vessels will be delivered between the last quarter of 2023 and the third quarter of 2024.

The construction contracts for those CMA CGM newbuilds were awarded to Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding and Jiangnan Shipyard Co.

Each of the Chinese yards is building six vessels able to carry between 13,000 and 15,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of containers.

The first ever LNG-powered containership was delivered to CMA CGM from the Hudong-Zhonghua yard and entered commercial operation in September 2020.

The 23,000 TEU “CMA CGM Jacques Saadé” was named after the late Lebanon-born founder of the shipping line and father of current Chairman Rodolphe Saadé.

French LNG storage designer GTT will supply the tanks for six more LNG-powered containerships ordered from South Korea by France’s Marseille-based shipping group CMA CGM.

The six containerships are being constructed at the Korean shipyard of Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries.

The vessels, each capable of carrying 8,000 containers, will be equipped with an LNG fuel tank with a capacity of 6,000 cubic metres. Each LNG tank will be fitted with GTT’s Mark II Flex membrane containment technology.

The deliveries of the vessels are scheduled from the fourth quarter of 2024 to the fourth quarter of 2025.

GTT noted that the CMA CGM order brings the total number of containerships to 80 that will have LNG capability and be equipped with the Paris-based firm’s storage tanks.

“This order underlines the renewed confidence of our partner CMA CGM in GTT's technologies to equip its LNG-powered container ships,” said Philippe Berterottière, Chairman and Chief Executive of GTT.

“The GTT group is proud to put its technological innovation at the service of the decarbonisation of global maritime transport,” added Berterottière.

China-built vessels

CMA CGM is a pioneer of LNG-powered containerships and has about 12 more of the vessels being built in China.

The shipping line has said it aimed have a fleet of 44 LNG-fuelled containerships by 2024.

The 12 China-built vessels will be delivered between the last quarter of 2023 and the third quarter of 2024.

The construction contracts for those CMA CGM newbuilds were awarded to Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding and Jiangnan Shipyard Co.

Each of the Chinese yards is building six vessels able to carry between 13,000 and 15,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of containers.

The first ever LNG-powered containership was delivered to CMA CGM from the Hudong-Zhonghua yard and entered commercial operation in September 2020.

The 23,000 TEU “CMA CGM Jacques Saadé” was named after the late Lebanon-born founder of the shipping line and father of current Chairman Rodolphe Saadé.

French major TotalEnergies has launched its first LNG bunkering operation for containerships at the West Mediterranean Port of Marseille Fos with an LNG-powered 15,000 twenty-foot units (TEU) containership re-fuelled.

The “CMA CGM Bali” operates on the Asia-to-South Europe route for Marseille-based shipping line CMA CGM.

“The containership was refuelled by the bunkering vessel ‘Gas Vitality’, which has 6,000 cubic metres of capacity operated a ship-to-ship transfer alongside the Eurofos container terminal, while the containership carried out cargo operations simultaneously,” explained TotalEnergies.

The “Gas Vitality” is the second LNG bunker vessel chartered by TotalEnergies from the owner, Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines.

“This entire operation underlines a solid collaborative teamwork across the French maritime industry including the involvement of local port authorities to enable the vessels’ safe operatorship, and the commitments of all the parties to support the growing role of LNG,” said Jérôme Leprince-Ringuet, Vice-President at ToatlEnergies Marine Fuels.

“TotalEnergies is delighted to successfully complete Marseille’s first LNG bunkering operation of a containership,” added Leprince-Ringuet.

“Her deployment underscores the company’s commitment to support the French port’s ambition to be an LNG bunkering hub for the
Mediterranean region,” stated the executive.

TotalEnergies has actively invested in LNG infrastructure, critical to support its shipping customers’ uptake of LNG as a marine fuel.

The company has been operating an even larger bunkering vessel, the 18,600 cubic metres capacity “Gas Agility” since November 2020 at the Dutch Port of Rotterdam.

It was at Rotterdam that the “Gas Agility” completed the first LNG bunkering operation of the “CMA CGM Jacques Saade”, the largest dual-fuel LNG-powered containership in the world.

“TotalEnergies will also commence operations of a third LNG bunker vessel to serve Singapore,” it noted.

“The company was awarded an LNG bunker supplier licence for a five-year term starting on January 1st, 2022,” it added.

In the global LNG market TotalEnergies is the world's second-largest publicly traded player and will have a global portfolio of nearly 50 million tonnes per annum from after 2025.

The Paris-based company has stakes in 10 LNG liquefaction and export plants worldwide in Angola, Australia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, the US, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Russia and Qatar.

Elengy, the French LNG import terminal owner, and TotalEnergies said that France’s first LNG bunkering vessel, “Gas Vitality”, has loaded a cargo at the Fos Cavaou LNG terminal, located west of the Mediterranean port of Marseille.