Biggest yet or just big

The latest big ship to arrive in Halifax is CMA CGM Thalassa that put in this morning, before sunrise and will sail in the wee hours of tomorrow morning. That it is big, there is no doubt. It measures 128,600 gt, 131,831 dwt and 347.48m long x 45.2m breadth - but is it the biggest yet?

CMA CGM Thlassa takes up a lot of air space and berth space at Halterm.

However another ship, the much smaller Jennifer Schepers is able to squeeze into the remaining space at pier 42.

Last month's arrival CMA CGM Libra was acknowledged to be the biggest yet at the time, based on its measurements of 131,332 gt, 131,236 dwt  and 363.91m length x 45.66m breadth. It has greater length and greater deadweight tonnage (this greater carrying capacity in tonnes).

Where it gets tricky is the imprecise rating of carrying capacity in TEUs. CMA CGM Libra is rated (by CMA CGM) as 11,388 nominal TEUs, whereas CMA CGM Thalassa is 11,040 nominal TEUs. However when it comes to average container weight of 14 tonnes, Thalassa has a capacity of 8,106 and Libra 7,990 TEUs. Hard to explain.

And the winner is...............

I will stick with CMA CGM Libra based on dimensions, tonnage and nominal capacity, and give CMA CGM Thalassa an honourable mention.

In CMA CGM's current fleet of 505 ships,  375 are chartered and 130 are owned. There are also 19 on order or under construction.

CMA CGM Thalassa is among the chartered ships. Owners Global Ship Lease Ltd had the ship built in 2008 by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Ltd in Okpo for charter to CMA CGM at a reported $47,200 per day until October 1, 2025. Global Ship Lease, a publicly traded company on the NYSE, is reportedly 45% owned by CMA CGM and has 19 ships, 17 of which are leased to CMA CGM.

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