New CMA CGM ship signals reefer ambitions

   CMA CGM said the first in a series of 28 new containerships with capacities of 9,400 TEU – 10,900 TEU will enter its fleet on June 30, with a design that it said signals its ambitions to be a leader in the refrigerated cargo business.
   The CMA CGM Danube will begin its maiden voyage in China, where it was built by DSIC in in Dalian.
   Specifically designed for passing through the Bosphorus, the ship has “unequaled capacity in reefer plugs for a ship of this size,” the company said. The ship has 1,458 reefer plugs, which CMA CGM said was “the largest so far on such a ship.”
   The ship will be operated on the company’s Bosphorus Express service, and will call  Dalian, Tianjin, Kwangyang, Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Chiwan, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Izmit, Istambul Ambarli, Constanza, Odessa, Ilyichevsk, Port Said, Port Kelang and Singapore.
   The company said the ship is “equipped with all the latest environmental technologies which significantly reduce its C02 emissions, as well as the group’s carbon footprint.”
   The ship has a new bulbous bow shapes improving the hydrodynamics of the vessel at a speed of 16 to 18 knots as well as an electronically controlled long stroke engine with an exhaust gas bypass system offering the best in fuel consumption, a twisted leading edge rudder with bulb and ballast water treatment system.