French shipping giant CMA CGM has announced the arrival of its new flagship, the first of an order of three 20,600 twenty-foot-equivalent unit (TEU) container ships to be deployed on the Far East-Europe route.
Named the CMA CGM Antoine De Saint Exupery, the ultra-large box ship is the world’s biggest container ship flying the French flag, said the company in a release.
The vessel measures 400 meters long and 59 meters wide and has a 20,600-TEU capacity, or 123 kilometers of containers.
READ: Hanjin unveils 20,600-TEU vessel built in Subic
“The ship bears the Group’s new visual identity, which reflects its dynamism,” said the statement.
Moreover, it said, the ship incorporates advanced technologies designed to protect the environment. These include enhancements that help to reduce significantly the vessel’s CO2 emissions, as well as a system for treating ballast water so that only cleared water without living organism capable of impacting marine biodiversity is ejected into the sea.
The CMA CGM Antoine De Saint Exupery will enter into service on February 6 on the FAL 1 loop (French Asia Line 1), the longest sea route in the world which connects Asia to Northern Europe.
This line offers a weekly service to 16 ports of call for a duration of 84 days.
