Containerships, an expert of intra-European operations and a company of the CMA CGM Group, has performed its first simultaneous operations (SIMOPS) bunkering, which allows for the concomitant bunkering of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and execution of loading and unloading procedures.
On July 4th, 2019, Containerships successfully carried out SIMOPS bunkering on its LNG-powered Containerships Nord vessel in the Port of Rotterdam. The vessel thus became the first container carrier performing SIMOPS in Europe by means of “ship-to-ship” bunkering. To ensure a fluent and safe ship-to-ship bunkering, Containerships worked closely together with Shell, its bunker supplier, with the Port of Rotterdam and with the RST Terminal. The vessel received approximately 200 tonnes of LNG.
The Containerships Nord vessel, which is deployed in the new BALT-2 service paved the way for this procedure to be performed on other LNG-powered vessels, including the recently delivered Containerships Polar, the sister ship of the Containerships Nord.
Thanks to SIMOPS, the ship’s stay in the port can be reduced significantly and operational delays avoided. Therefore, transit times can be reduced, offering CMA CGM Group customers a highly reliable and fast connection between Northern Europe and the Baltics.
Using LNG, Containerships as part of the CMA CGM Group reinforces its commitment to the protection of the environment and the energy transition of the maritime industry. The use of this fuel indeed represents a real technological breakthrough which yields significant benefits compared to traditional heavy fuel oil:
- Up to 25% less CO2 emissions,
- 99% less Sulphur emissions,
- 99% less fine particles emissions,
- 85% less nitrogen oxide emissions.
The CMA CGM group will add a total of twenty LNG-powered containerships to its fleet by 2022, including nine 22,000 TEU mega-ships to be added from the next year.
Containerships is a full-service logistics company providing safe, reliable and sustainable door-to-door multimodal transportation. Their comprehensive European network reaches from Russia to North Africa providing customers comprehensive coverage in the region. The service portfolio consists of both standard and customised containers and logistic solutions thanks to 32 vessels, 700 trucks operating on 34 sea, rail and river services provided by 1,200 experts in more than 30 countries.
