In one of the longest telegraphed orders in the 62-year history of container shipping, France’s CMA CGM has finally come clean about its record-breaking series of 22,000 teu ships. Split between Shanghai’s top two yards – Waigaoqiao and Hudong-Zhonghua – the LNG-fuelled ships are the largest boxships ever ordered and will start delivering from the end of 2019.
The ships, which were first reported by Splash last month, are costing $133.33m each and will be deployed on the Asia-Europe tradelane. The new vessels will keep CMA CGM in third place in the global liner rankings with fellow Ocean Alliance member Cosco snapping at its heels as it moves to take over Hong Kong’s OOCL.
Rodolphe Saadé, the CEO of CMA CGM, said, while unveiling the company’s second quarter results on Friday, the new ships would maintain the line’s competitiveness.
CMA CGM saw volumes leap by a third year-on-year in the second quarter, moving 4.73m teu. It swung to from a net loss of $129m to a net profit of $219m.
“Given the recent trend in freight rates, and excluding a significant change in fuel prices and exchange rates, CMA CGM expects to continue to improve its operating results in the second semester compared to the first semester,” the Marseille-headquartered company said in a release.
