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12 Cranes Work Simultaneously on Container Ship

Kerguelen

Published Apr 28, 2015 3:48 AM by The Maritime Executive

CMA CGM’s newest vessel CMA CGM Kerguelen has made its first call at the Port Klang Port Terminal in Malaysia. The terminal has set up a unique arrangement for the vessel so that 12 cranes were simultaneously used to match the vessel's exceptional length (398 meters) and capacity (17,722 TEU), setting a new record for one of the group’s vessels.

This means that one crane was used for every two container bays, something made possible by the forward position of the deckhouse that has the fuel tanks underneath. Additionally, the engine room is positioned close to the propeller to reduce space lost for the propeller shaft. 

CMA CGM’s fleet now consists of 445 ships, including the world’s largest container ships (by capacity).

Port Klang, ideally located in South East Asia, connects major shipping routes with ports in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The latest series of large container ships, bearing the names of great explorers, started joining the fleet in 2012 with the delivery of CMA CGM Marco Polo, a vessel with a 16,020 TEU capacity. 

In 2015, six new vessels of 18,000 TEUs will enter the fleet, CMA CGM Kerguelen, delivered in March, being the first one.

The CMA CGM 18,000 TEUs ships’ design is similar to the 16,020 TEU and the 13,800 TEU series. Located at the front of the vessel, the unique castle maximizes the use of space while providing better visibility from the bridge and gives the ship more resistance to torsion. 

This layout allows also to position fuel tanks under the castle. They are therefore protected by the ship’s double hull, which makes the vessel in compliance with the MARPOL 12A regulation. 

Found in the rear, the engine room is located near the propeller which limits the loss of place that could result from a propeller shaft crossing the ship.

On the CMA CGM Kerguelen, the design is optimized by:

•    An increased castle height
•    Raised lashing gateways enabling containers’ support
•    Containers’ safety reinforced through external lashing and new twist locks

SIZE COMPARISON

The CMA CGM Kerguelen is:

•    Longer than four football fields or 5.5 A380 Airbus planes.
•    Bigger than The Empire State Building (381 m without antennas) and the Eiffel Tower (324m).
•    An engine as powerful as 900 cars of 100 horsepower (Renault Megane type OU Ford Focus type).
•    A 21 knots thrust equivalent to that of 10 A380 airbus reactors (3,000 KNewton).
•    The electricity production of a city of 16 000, or of 1 0 windmills (14 MWatts).
•    18 000 TEUs capacity, or 109 km of containers aligned.

INNOVATE TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

Electronic injection engine 
This latest generation of engines considerably reduces consumption of fuel (-3 percent on average) and for oil (-25 percent)

Exhaust by-pass system 
The vessel’s design has been specifically adapted for slow-steaming by fitting the main engine with an exhaust by-pass system to improve energy efficiency at low loads, and thereby reducing fuel consumption by around 1.5 percent at slow speeds.

Twisted leading edge rudder 
This system improves the vessel’s hydrodynamics (optimizing water flow), significantly reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The addition of a bulb on the rudder, innovative technology implemented on the CMA CGM Kerguelen, helped to improve the energy performance by an additional four percent.

Optimized hull design
The hull design improves significantly the vessel’s propulsion in the water.

INNOVATE TO PRESERVE MARINE ECOSYSTEMS

A new ballast water treatment system 

To protect the marine environment and wildlife from foreign organisms which travel in ballast water, the CMA CGM Kerguelen is equipped with an approved ballast water treatment system, although this regulation is not yet in force. Treated directly when it is pumped on board and again during ballasting operations, ballast water is filtered and passed under UV lamps so that water rejected at sea is totally cleared of any living organisms. The system was specifically chosen by CMA CGM as there are no chemical products being rejected into the sea.

Additional equipment for better safety 

The CMA CGM Kerguelen has an extra decanting tank. Additional tanks allow bilge water, engine and grey water to be treated. In addition, all equipment on deck is electric to eliminate problems with hydraulic fluid leaks. The CMA CGM Kerguelen is also fitted with the Fast Oil Recovery System, a pollution management technology. This simple, reliable and safe system allows hydrocarbons in the fuel bunkers to be quickly recovered without having to go through the hull.