MARITIME NEWS

CMA CGM Takes Delivery of Its Second 18,000 TEU Giant

French shipping company CMA CGM has taken delivery of the 18,000 TEU CMA CGM Georg Forster from Samsung Shipbuilding and Heavy Industries in Busan, South Korea, the second vessel of this capacity to join the company’s fleet.

This gigantic vessel, forms part of a series of six sister vessels named after great explorers. The first ship from the series, the  17,722 TEU CMA CGM Kerguelen, was delivered to the company in April.

The ship measures 1,305 ft. (398m) in length and 177 ft. (54m) in width. All containers placed together would cover the distance between Hamburg and Hanover.

Its size is above the height of the Empire State Building, wider than an Olympic pool, and its thrust is equivalent to the one of 10 Airbus A380 altogether.

Calling 11 different countries, the CMA CGM Georg Forster will join the vessels sailing the French Asia Line (FAL).

The vessel is equipped with the latest environmental technologies: an engine of the latest generation, a twisted leading edge rudder with bulb, an optimized hull design, all aimed at decreasing its CO2 emissions by 10% compared to the previous vessel generation.

With an estimated emission of 37g of CO2/km for each container, the UK-flagged CMA CGM Georg Forster is one of the greenest goods transport means in the world.

The vessel is named after the famous 18th century German travel writer, who was part of the James Cook’s expedition in Southern Seas.

The giant boxship will start her first rotation on June 2nd. She will sail and call the different ports of the FAL rotation in China, Malaysia, Egypt, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coast up to Germany. The vessel will be christened in Hamburg on July 9th.