CMA CGM adds cars

 The Marseilles-based CMA CGM has been on a growth splurge in the past couple of years. In March of this year the company surpassed Maersk as the second largest container shipping line, at 5.42 mn TEU versus 5.28 mn TEU for Maersk, but still well behind MSC's 8.47 mn TEU.

While CMA CGM was buying up container ships, (it now counts 650 ships in its fleet) it was also widening its activities by chartering tonnage to get itself into the car carrier market.  It has made ten year charter deals with Eastern Pacific Shipping Ltd of Singapore to take on dusl fuel LNG powered ships from Chinese builders.

Today, October 12, the second of four ships in the frost series, CMA CGM Silverstone, arrived in Halifax. It first docked at Pier 9C to offload a variety of machinery and other RoRo cargo.

 

 

The ship tied up at sunrise (0730 hrs) and was just lowering its stern ramp in this photo.

At sunset, another photo reveals the usual mining, agricultural and forestry machinery, sections of a crane boom and other unidentified equipment. (In the background, tied up at the Bedford Institute piers, are CCG ships Jean Goodwill and Sir William Alexander along with the patrol vessels Private Robertson VC and Corporal Tether CV.

Called a Pure Car Carrier, the CMA CGM Silverstone is not restricted to carrying cars. It has extensive capacity for other RoRo cargo with some of its twelve decks moveable to allow for high and heavy loads. 

It is also equipped with a high tonne capacity stern ramp and a smaller side ramp.

 

In addition to the customary No Smoking warning, signage over the stern ramp gives clearances of  10 meters width and 5.2 meters height and cautions: 

 Max Load 150T (1500 kN) vehicle

Max Load 250T (2250 kN) with LMS mode

Max Axle Load 60T/2W, 35T/4W 30T/2W 

According to my limited research "LMS mode" refers to a patented MacGregor system designed to increase the load capacity of the ramp. It provides real-time monitoring and control to allow for flexibility in transporting heavier loads such as machinery and battery powered equipment. (The MacGregor company builds stern ramps and other cargo handling components such as cranes and hatch covers).

China Merchants Jinling Shipyard Co Ltd in Weihai built the ship in 2024. The 71,631 gt, 19,138 dwt vessel has a capacity of about 7,000 CEU. It also finds room for two 2,000 cubic meter LNG tanks, and an array of batteries that can be charged by shaft generator.

 After a few hours at Pier 9C the ship moved to Autoport to offload a more conventional cargo of cars.

 

Ships of Eastern Pacific Shipping have themed names, and one such theme is auto racing tracks. The first ship in this series is CMA CGM Indianapolis. The CMA CGM Silverstone is the second, followed by the CMA CGM Monaco and CMA CGM Monza.

The ship's last port is given as Bremerhaven, suggesting that it is dedicated to Volkswagen, whereas it was intended originally for China - Europe service.

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