Containerships Receives First LNG-powered Boxship

Multimodal transporter Containerships Plc announced the delivery of its first LNG-powered container vessel, M/S Containerships Nord. She was delivered to Containerships at Wenchong Shipyard, China, on 12.12.2018.

A press release from the Finland-headquartered shortsea specialist said that its LNG-story started in 2013, when the decision to build the new environmentally-friendly LNG-powered vessels was taken.

LNG is a relatively new fuel source, and these vessels would be the first newbuilds based on this technology to serve regularly European ports and trade, Containerships said.

“By taking this decision, we accepted the challenge of building with a new technology. It has been a rewarding project full of learning opportunities”, says Containerships’ CEO Kari-Pekka Laaksonen.

“This project has required high levels of expertise and constant development. Success requires excellent co-operation between the involved parties. Needless to describe how proud and enthusiastic we are of having received the first vessel.”        

Containerships’ LNG-concept spreads out from sea to land; target is to create a complete, LNG based door-to-door supply chain in Europe. In addition to LNG-powered vessels, company looks for constant growth of LNG-fuelled transport capacity on land logistics by investing in LNG-fuelled trucks.

M/S Containerships Nord starts sailing towards Europe soon after her delivery. Her sister vessels, three more in total, are scheduled for delivery during the first half on 2019. All vessels hold a capacity of 1,400 TEU.

After the delivery of Containerships’ first three LNG-powered vessels, company can offer its customers a service based on LNG in large extend. Until then, Containerships’ parent company, CMA CGM – also very committed to environmentally friendly LNG-technology – has sublet M/S Containerships Nord for its trade lanes.

“CMA CGM is the first deep sea shipping line that has made public its commitment to LNG. There is a great synergy in our environmentally-friendly visions, which naturally gives us even more courage to continue on the chosen path”, says Kari-Pekka Laaksonen.

Using LNG throughout the logistics supply chain saves up to 25% on contribution to Global Warming compared to traditional multimodal transportation. Compared to traditional land transportation, the number increases up to 60%.