CMA CGM has inked a deal with Total for it to supply LNG for containerships operating between the Med and Asia with bunkering in Marseille and Singapore, reports Seatrade Maritime News.
Fuel supply by Total
The LNG will be supplied by Total Marine Fuels Global Solutions for CMA CGM’s future 15,000-TEU container ships that will operate between Asia and the Mediterranean. The vessels are scheduled for delivery starting in 2021.
As part of this agreement, Total will provide a suitable solution for the bunkering of the container ships with the positioning of a LNG bunker vessel at the port of Marseille-Fos in France and a complementary bunkering solution in Singapore.
Total-MOL Charter
Total Marine Fuels Global Solutions has also signed a charter contract for a second large LNG bunker vessel with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) to be delivered in 2021. She will be positioned in Marseille-Fos.
The vessel will be built by Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in China.
- She will have a capacity of 18,600 m³ and a length of about 135 meters and will be fitted with the Mark III membrane containment system provided by French company GTT.
- She has been specifically designed to supply LNG bunker in the Mediterranean area to a wide range of vessels, including container ships, tankers, ferries and large cruise ships.
- She will use LNG as propulsion fuel and have a complete re-liquefaction system for the boil-off gas.
The newbuild vessel will be operated under French flag by MOL, jointly with Gazocean, a company based in Marseille experienced in LNG transportation.
LNG bunkering in Northern Europe
The agreement follows the launching of Total’s first LNG bunker vessel earlier this year in Shanghai, which will supply LNG bunker to CMA CGM’s 23,000-TEU container ships in Northern Europe.
CMA CGM launched world’s largest container ship powered by LNG in Septmeber. The 23,000-TEU CMA CGM Jacques Saade was built at Shanghai Jiangnan-Changxing Shipyard in China.
Rodolphe Saadé initiates international coalition
At the French Maritime Economy Conference this week, Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group, recommended that French President Emmanuel Macron initiate an international coalition for the energy transition of the transportation sector whose priority will be to develop a more competitive and less carbon-intensive energy source.
Saadé stressed the need to improve the cooperation of all those working on near-term solutions to replace fossil fuels in the transportation and logistics sectors.
The French President accepted to actively support this initiative, whose first forum could be held on the occasion of the World Conservation Congress which will be organized in Marseille in June 2020.
The “Eco-Energetic Transition of the Maritime Sector” project will be led by the French Maritime Cluster, the ADEME (French Environment & Energy Management Agency), Bureau Veritas and CMA CGM.
The aim is to carry out an inventory of available technologies and new developments in ship propulsion. The data collected will help guide and structure future work.
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Source: Seatrade Maritime News
