Leading shipping company CMA CGM Group reported it bunkered its first container ship with LNG on 24 January at the Port Rotterdam. The refuelling also marked the first time a container shipping line in Europe performed a ship-to-ship bunkering with LNG.

1,400-TEU Containership Nord, operated by Containerships, a subsidiary of CMA CGM, was refuelled with 240M tonnes of LNG at lay bay berth in a ship-to-ship LNG bunkering operation with Shell’s 6,500-m3 bunker vessel Cardissa. This will allow Containership Nord to travel from Rotterdam to St Petersburg, Russia and back traversing through the Kiel Canal twice, according to Containerships.

“We are proud to supply Containerships with a cleaner-burning and viable fuel for the shipping industry,” said Tahir Faruqui, general manager, Shell Global Downstream LNG. “LNG bunkering is a very safe operation and we look forward to conducting simultaneous operations with Containerships in the future,” he added.

In the future, Containerships will conduct simultaneous operations, bunkering LNG at a berth while loading or discharging cargo. This will enhance operational efficiency.

Containerships Nord is the first in a series of four newbuilds from Chinese shipbuilder Wenchong Shipyard, Guangzhou. Delivery of three sister vessels is set for later this year.

After receiving the next two newbuilds, Containerships will start offering its customers a service based on LNG-fuelled ships. The ships will be able to sail for 14 days on one refuelling of LNG, and they will be bunkered once per roundtrip during their regular service loop between Containerships’ core ports in the North and Baltic Seas.

Under an agreement, Shell will supply the LNG for Containerships’ vessels via ship-to-ship bunkering at the Port of Rotterdam. All the newbuilds will be bunkered by Shell bunker vessels, including the Cardissa.

A pioneer in using LNG to power container ships, CMA CGM will take delivery of nine 22,000-TEU vessels from 2020.

Source: https://www.lngworldshipping.com