CMA CGM berths its largest box ship ever to call in the US

THE largest CMA CGM containership ever to dock at a US port, the 8,500-TEU CMA CGM Figaro, has called at Los Angeles on its Bohai Rim Service linking north China to the US west coast, reports American Shipper.

"The Figaro and other large vessels in our fleet are critical strategic assets in the supply chains of our customers, particularly now as Asia-US trade continues to grow and capacity remains constrained due to the recent economic downturn," said Jean-Philippe Thenoz, CMA CGM vice president, North America.

The vessel is equipped with environmental features including a new Fast Oil Recovery System that would limit environmental impact in the vent of a spill, an electronically controlled engine reducing oil consumption 25 per cent and fuel consumption by three per cent. This enables super slow, or "eco-speeds" of 14 to 15 knots and allows it to plug into shoreside electric power sources when berthed.

"CMA CGM is to be congratulated for the state-of-the art environmental technologies being used aboard the Figaro and many other CMA CGM vessels," said Port of Los Angeles executive director Geraldine Knatz. "It's this kind of forward-thinking that allows the port to continue to grow responsibly."

The CMA CGM Figaro, as all the other vessels of the CMA CGM Group calling Los Angeles and Long Beach, follows the Green Flag Programme initiative by reducing speed to 12 knots within 40 miles of the harbour entrance. For several years in a row, CMA CGM has been awarded the "Green Flag Environmental Achievement Award" for its full compliance to the programme.

It was earlier reported that the ship was the largest ever containership to dock in the US, but the source of this report has since issued a correction.
(Source:www.schednet.com)