Credit: Containerships
BY STAS MARGARONIS
CMA CGM-owned Containerships has received the 1,400-TEU Containerships Nord – the first newly built container ship sailing in Europe to run on dual-fuel LNG.
The company announced that “The second of our LNG-Powered vessels, CONTAINERSHIPS POLAR, will join her fellow her vessel in Europe in just a few short weeks!”
The two 1,400-TEU feeder vessels were built at the Wenchong Shipyard in China.
They will be followed by two more LNG-powered ships.
Containerships’ LNG-concept involves more than just the vessel-side of the supply chain – it spreads out from sea to land, and the target is to create a complete, LNG-based door-to-door supply chain in Europe. In addition to LNG-powered vessels, the company is investing in LNG-fueled trucks.
The ships’ naval architect Hans K. Stam, a partner with SMB naval architects based in the Netherlands, said in an interview that the “new ship is being closely watched as a possible solution to the 2020 low-sulphur fuel requirements required by the International Maritime Organization.”
Stam says that the new IMO rules have shipowners scrambling for low-sulphur alternatives. He believes LNG will provide the best alternative and allow for a substantial reduction in emissions.
He noted that the new LNG-powered vessels “ will generate negligible sulphur emissions, reduced nitrous oxide and reduced particulate matter.”
Stam notes that aside from CMA’s investment in the ships via Containerships, other carriers are also looking at the LNG option including Hapag-Lloyd.
He says that “LNG engines cost more than conventional diesel-powered ships but as more ships are built the cost of construction will go down.”
In January, Containerships announced: “We are happy to announce that our first LNG-fuelled container vessel, M/S Containerships Nord, successfully underwent her first Marine LNG bunkering at the Port of Rotterdam on 24th of January. Around 240 metric tons of Marine LNG was bunkered to the vessel – an amount that can take her on a roundtrip from Rotterdam to St. Petersburg and back sailing through the Kiel canal twice.
The first bunkering was carried out at a berth in a ship-to-ship LNG bunkering operation from Shell’s Bunker Vessel, the Cardissa. In future, the bunkering will be carried out at a normal operational berth simultaneously with loading and discharging operations. This means no disadvantages in operative efficiency will occur compared to traditional oil burning vessels.”
Tahir Faruqui, General Manager, Shell Global Downstream LNG, said: “We are proud to supply Containerships with a cleaner burning and viable fuel for the shipping industry. LNG bunkering is a very safe operation and we look forward to conducting simultaneous operations with Containerships in the future”.
M/S Containerships Nord started sailing from China towards Europe in Mid-December and reached the European waters after passing the Suez Canal after two and half weeks sailing. The three sister vessels will follow the same route after their delivery later this year. After receiving the next two newbuilds, Containerships can start offering its customers a service based on LNG. These vessels have endurance of 14 days with LNG, and they will be bunkered once per roundtrip during their regular service loop between Containerships’ core ports in the North and Baltic Seas.
As part of the agreement signed by Containerships and Shell, Shell will supply the LNG for Containerships’ LNG vessels via ship-to-ship bunkering at the Port of Rotterdam.
Containerships was the first container shipping line in Europe to perform ship-to-ship bunkering with LNG.