10 more CMA CGM ships to get nose jobs

OCTOBER 30, 2014 — Marseilles, France, headquartered CMA CGM is to retrofit ten more ships with bulbous bows optimized for current operating speeds. The container shipping giant has already carried out similar nose jobs on 15 ships and all ships entering its fleet this year have been built with bulbous bows suited for current speeds.

The bow optimizations are part of an environmental and ship efficiency program that has seen the CMA CGM Group reduce per kilometer CO₂/TEU emissions by 40% since 2005.

The bulbous bow exchanges are performed within a week in dry dock.

Because of their influence on the vessel’s wave resistance, bulbous bows have a major impact on the vessel hydrodynamic efficiency. They were initially designed for 24 knots sailing speed, but with the implementation of slow steaming, the Group’s vessels now sail at speeds of between 16 to 18 knots. Bulbous bows have therefore been redesigned.

The new bulbous bows have been designed in cooperation with Hydrocéan, a French engineering company specializing in hydrodynamics and which performed the hydrodynamic calculations.

CMA CGM Group says the bulbous bow retrofit program reinforces its environmental commitment and that it is well on track to meeting its objective of  a per kilometer 50% reduction in CO₂/TEU.