CMA CGM Christens Its Largest Vessel

CMA CGM christened its largest ship, the GEORG FORESTER, on July 11 in Hamburg.

The box ship is 398 meters (1,305 feet) long with an 18,000 TEU capacity and is the sister ship to the KERGUELEN, which was launched this March. CMA CGM, which is the third largest box line in the world, is building six ships in the class, which will enter the fleet during 2015. The company has about 460 vessels in its global fleet.

The GEORG FORESTER will operate on CMA CGM’s east-west trade route between Northwest Europe and Asia and will make port calls in 11 different countries. The newly christened vessel was named after an 18^th century naturalist and ethnologist who accompanied James Cook on his second voyage to the Pacific.

According to AlixPartner’s 2015 Container Shipping outlook, the number of mega-vessels, which transport than 13,300 TEUs, are expected to double by 2017. Routes between Asia and Northern Europe have witnessed a 32% increase of mega boxships since 2010.