Shipping group CMA CGM received its first ever delivery of a dual-fuel methanol vessel, with 11 more expected to arrive over the next two years.
According to a March 4 release from the company, CMA CGM Iron was built as part of a $2 billion deal with South Korea’s Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries, and has a capacity of 13,000 twenty-foot equivalent units. The next eleven ships — dubbed Cobalt, Argon, Platinum, Mercury, Helium, Krypton, Thorium, Osmium, Silver, Copper and Gold — will gradually be rolled out in 2025 and 2026.
CMA CGM described the delivery of the first dual-fuel vessel from Hyundai Samho as a major milestone in its goal to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and to help decarbonize the shipping industry at large.
“We have met the challenge of this new propulsion system,” said CMA CGM vice-president Xavier Leclercq.
Iron departed on its maiden voyage from Singapore on March 4, and is destined for the United Arab Emirates’ Khalifa port, before it joins CMA CGM’s service route connecting Asia to the Middle East Gulf.
