CMA CGM Thalassa

 It was a return appearance today for one of CMA CGM's "ultras". One of the nineteen ships in the Columbus JAX rotation it was once in the cohort of largest ships to call in Halifax. That was as recently as 2019 when cracking the 10,000 TEU mark was the record to strive for. Now the 17,000 TEU mark is the number to beat.

Built in 2008 by Daewoo Shipbuilding + Marine Engineering in Okpo, it is one of five ships of the Daewoo 11000 class. At 128,600 gt, 131,938 dwt it has a capacity 10,980 TEU including 700 reefers. A slightly larger fleet mate CMA CGM Libra preceded the ship in Halifax in January 2019 and its capacity of 11,388 TEU held the record for largest ship for a short time. However numbers can be complicated as my Shipfax post of  February 7, 2019 explained.

In comparing photos from 2019 with today's arrival, the ship appears to have loaded one more (an eighth) tier of boxes, compared to the seven tiers in 2019. Business is certainly booming as are charter rates for ships. Ships of this size are routinely being chartered for well in excess of $100,000 per day as compared to the $47,200 quoted in the 2019 post.

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CMA CGM Thalassa revisited

Back in February when it called here for the first time I wondered if CMA CGM Thalassa was the largest container ship to call here.

http://shipfax.blogspot.com/search?q=cma+cgm+thalassa

At the time I put my faith in figures recorded for CMA CGM Libra, putting it slightly ahead.

Despite the nominal 11,040 TEUs quoted, the 10,980 TEU capacity used by many sources and the 8,108 TEU if loaded to an average 14 tonnes, there is still a case to be made for the CMA CGM Thalassa because it has the larger deadweight tonnage of 131,938 tonnes, and can carry more loaded containers. Simply put CMA CGM Thalassa can carry more cargo even though it is not the bigger ship in dimensions.

The declared container capacity of a ship and the actual number of containers it can actually carry may be somewhat less. Some lines are coy and understate the capacity and others overstate it. Deadweight tonnage also varies because it depends on the allowed draft. If the calculation is made for the ship at the deepest draft condition, then that is the ultimate carrying capacity. It is not always clear without access to more detailed information whether the quoted deadweight tonnage is in fact the maximum.

No matter if it is the biggest or not, it was an impressive sight arriving this afternoon and towering over the attending tugs and the harbour tour boat Silva of Halifax.

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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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