Damen Shipyards and CMA CGM to cooperate on increasing container ship efficiency

Damen Shipyards Group and leading shipping group CMA CGM are beginning a cooperation that will ultimately result in around 10 of the latter’s vessels receiving significant modifications this year.

These will deliver fuel efficiencies of more than 10 percent. The upgrades will take place at Damen Shiprepair Dunkerque (DSDu) and Damen Shiprepair Amsterdam (DSAm), which between them have some of Europe’s largest dry docks and many years’ experience in complex refits and retrofits.

The key feature of the cooperation will be the installation of bulbs on the bows of the vessels. Up until now, CMA CGM has been using shipyards in China and occasionally in the Middle East, but this agreement marks for the first time their use of European yards for these complex modifications.

Nine stops by CMA CGM vessels are scheduled for this year, five at DSDu and four at DSAm. Three of these will be for the installation of bow bulbs, with the first being on the innovative, LNG-fuelled, container feeder ship Polar. The 120-tonne bulb has been fabricated at DSAm and will be fitted there shortly. The remaining two vessels will be the 170-metre Arctic and the 170-metre Aurora.

While the bulb retrofits will yield savings in fuel consumption of between 5 to 10%, CMA CGM is looking at other upgrades that can further contribute to the efficiency of their vessels. To assist the shipping group in meeting its goals, Damen is also offering packages that not only include the bow bulb, but also a propeller upgrade, modifications to the propeller nozzle, and silicone paint. Each of these upgrades will deliver additional fuel economies of between 2 and 5%, yielding a return on investment in less than three years as well as yielding significant reductions in carbon and other pollutants.

Three of the vessels will also be equipped to access shore power, thereby reducing their emissions when alongside in ports that offer the service. This is in line with CMA CGM’s commitment to cleaner operations.

“We look forward to a long-term partnership between CMA CGM and Damen,” says Freek van den Eijkel, Commercial Manager at DSAm. “DSDu already has a relationship with CMA CGM, but together DSAm and DSDu can deliver the services that CMA CGM requires with their excellent facilities and easy access to and from the major shipping routes.”