Containerships is pleased to announce the delivery of its first LNG-powered container vessel, M/S Containerships Nord. She was delivered to Containerships at Wenchong Shipyard, China, on 12.12.2018.

Containerships’ LNG-story started in 2013 when the decision to build the new environmentally-friendly LNG-powered vessels was taken. LNG is a relatively new fuel source, and these vessels would be the first newbuilds based on this technology to serve regularly European ports and trade.

Image Credit: containershipsgroup.com

“By taking this decision, we accepted the challenge of building with a new technology. It has been a rewarding project full of learning opportunities”, says Containerships’ CEO Kari-Pekka Laaksonen.

“This project has required high levels of expertise and constant development. Success requires excellent co-operation between the involved parties. Needless to describe how proud and enthusiastic we are of having received the first vessel.”

Containerships’ LNG-concept spreads out from sea to land; the target is to create a complete, LNG based door-to-door supply chain in Europe. In addition to LNG-powered vessels, the company looks for constant growth of LNG-fuelled transport capacity on land logistics by investing in LNG-fuelled trucks.

M/S Containerships Nord starts sailing towards Europe soon after her delivery. Her sister vessels, three more in total, are scheduled for delivery during the first half of 2019. All vessels hold a capacity of 1,400 TEU.

After the delivery of Containerships’ first three LNG-powered vessels, the company can offer its customers a service based on LNG in large extend. Until then, Containerships’ parent company, CMA CGM – also very committed to environmentally friendly LNG-technology – has sublet M/S Containerships Nord for its trade lanes.

“CMA CGM is the first deep sea shipping line that has made public its commitment to LNG. There is a great synergy in our environmentally-friendly visions, which naturally gives us even more courage to continue on the chosen path”, says Kari-Pekka Laaksonen.

Using LNG throughout the logistics supply chain saves up to 25% on contribution to Global Warming compared to traditional multimodal transportation. Compared to traditional land transportation, the number increases up to 60%.