Newbuild Containership Enters CMA CGM Fleet

Posted by Eric Haun October 15, 2014

CMA CGM Elbe (Photo: CMA CGM)

The CMA CGM Group announced the maiden voyage of the CMA CGM Elbe on October, 14, 2014 in Dalian (China).

The CMA CGM Elbe (9400 TEUs) is the second of a series of 28 vessels from 9,400 TEUs to 10,900 TEUs, vessels which will be delivered from now to the third quarter of 2016. Last June, the group received the delivery of the first vessel of this series: the CMA CGM Danube. Each vessel of this one-of-a-kind series will be named after a famous river of the world.

Sailing under the Malta flag, it is the second chartered ship of this class built at the Chinese construction site DSIC (Dalian PRC) and delivered to the group.

According to CMA CGM, the vessel, 300m in length and 48m in width, was designed to offer maximal loading capacity while meeting the technical constraints necessitated by the Strait of the Bosphorus.

With a capacity of 1,458 reefer plugs 40’, which is the largest so far on such a ship, the CMA CGM Elbe embodies the group’s ambition to be a leader in this growing market.

Reefer containers maintain a temperature, a hygrometry and an atmosphere adapted to each product, offering container transportation flexibility and cold chain maintenance from the production to the delivery place.

Operated on one of the emblematic lines of the Group, the Bosphorus Express (BEX), the CMA CGM Elbe will offer direct service between Asia, Turkey and the Black Sea. Accordingly, it will call Dalian, Tianjin, Kwangyang, Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Chiwan, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Izmit, Istambul Ambarli, Constanza, Odessa, Ilyichevsk, Port Said, Port Kelang, Singapore and once again Dalian.

In line with the sustainable development policy of the Group, the CMA CGM Elbe is equipped with the latest environmental technologies which significantly reduce its C02 emissions, as well as the group’s carbon footprint. More particularly, it is equipped with new bulbous bow shapes improving the hydrodynamics of the vessel at a speed of 16 to18 knots. The ship also features an electronically controlled long stroke engine with an exhaust gas bypass system offering the best in fuel consumption, a twisted leading edge rudder with bulb and a ballast water treatment system.