The CMA CGM Group’s flagship and the world’s largest French-flagged containership became the 100th vessel of more than 10,000 teus to call at Le Havre.
The Christophe Colomb is first in a series of eight vessels named after explorers. The vessel is 1,199 ft long with a beam of 168 ft – equivalent to four football pitches. She can transport up to 13,800 teus.
The CMA CGM Christophe Colomb is deployed on the FAL 5 (French Asia Line), the main CMA CGM Group service on the Asia-Europe trade, calling at Le Havre every week with the following rotation: Ningbo, Shanghai, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Port Kelang, Le Havre, Rotterdam (inbound), Hamburg, Rotterdam (outbound), Zeebrugge, Port Kelang, Singapore and Ningbo.
Since its introduction last July, the service has made 100% of European calls on time. In addition, this service will now arrive in Le Havre on Sunday nights to enable delivery of the first containers on Monday mornings.
Le Havre is CMA CGM’s main European port of call, with over 21 shipping services calling here every week from across the world: Asia, Africa, USA, Europe, South America, the Caribbean, etc.
Like all its new vessels, the CMA CGM Christophe Colomb integrates a range of eco-friendly technologies that actively limit the carbon and environmental footprint of the goods she carries. They include:
• an electronic injection engine, which significantly reduces fuel and oil consumption
• double-hull protection for the fuel tanks
• the Fast Oil Recovery System, an innovative process for preventing marine pollution
• a twisted leading edge rudder, and a Pre-Swirl Stator ® optimizing the ship’s hydrodynamics
• a multi-chamber waste compactor to make the most of recycling channels on shore
• all necessary provisos to install equipment required to connect to a port’s electricity supply during operations.
Another feature is her superstructure, located at the front to maximize the use of space while providing greater visibility from the bridge. A second superstructure at the rear houses the exhaust system and technical rooms. Finally, like most of the Group's vessels, the CMA CGM Christophe Colomb has a number of cabins designed to welcome passengers (two staterooms on this flagship).