Meet the 'Notre Dame', world's biggest LNG-fuelled container ship, deployed on CMA CGM's Asia-Europe route
The next-generation LNG-fuelled 'CMA CGM Notre Dame' is scheduled to begin its maiden journey towards Asia on July 6
The next-generation LNG-fuelled 'CMA CGM Notre Dame' is scheduled to begin its 102-day maiden journey towards Asia on July 6.
The next-generation LNG-fuelled 'CMA CGM Notre Dame' is scheduled to begin its 102-day maiden journey towards Asia on July 6.
The next-generation LNG-fuelled 'CMA CGM Notre Dame' is scheduled to begin its 102-day maiden journey towards Asia on July 6.
Days ahead of its maiden journey to Asia, CMA CGM's newest LNG-fuelled container ship turned heads at its christening ceremony in France's Le Havre.
Named the CMA CGM Notre Dame (IMO: 1028035) at the July 2 event, the next-generation vessel has made headlines for being the largest LNG-fuelled container ship in the world.
It is also the first in a fleet of ten ultra-large next-generation container ships to carry the French flag, with the remaining vessels scheduled for delivery by January 2028.
The Notre Dame will also be the first of a new fleet that will operate on the shipping giant's flagship French Asia Line (FAL), which it has said is essential to boosting Europe's economic competitiveness amid global headwinds.
Measuring 400m long (more than the Eiffel Tower!) and 62m wide, the ship has a capacity of 24,212 TEUs.
The vessel is scheduled to begin its maiden journey towards Asia on the FAL route on Monday.
It will call at a number of ports during this journey, including Ningbo, Shanghai, Yantian, Singapore, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Tangier Med, before circling around back to Europe in about 102 days.
On the voyage to Asia, it will carry chemicals, food products, wine and spirits, pharmaceuticals, industrial machinery and luxury goods, while it will return with electronics, clothing, household appliances, and a wide range of consumer goods, a Euronews report said.
It added that the estimated value of the ship's cargo was somewhere between €2.5-3 billion (₹27,000-₹33,000 crore).
Apart from its LNG propulsion, which CMA CGM has said is its major contribution to the global push to decarbonise fleets, and the company's own goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
The Notre Dame also has artificial intelligence (AI) integrated into a number of its systems, which helps in optimising real-time navigation, energy consumption, and environmental performance.
"This vessel embodies a France that is looking to the future. It reflects the bold industrial choices we have made in recent years to usher maritime transport into a new era," said Rodolphe Saade, Chairman and CEO, CMA CGM Group.