Philippe Donche-Gay, President, Bureau Veritas, Marine & Offshore (photo: BV)

Bureau Veritas (BV) has been awarded the responsibility for classification of CMA CGM’s new 22,000 TEU containerships. The decision for the nine ships to be fuelled by liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been carefully considered and Bureau Veritas has been closely involved in feasibility studies, working with the owner, builders and technology providers.

Philippe Donche-Gay, President, Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore, comments, “This is a breakthrough order for gas fuelled shipping – both in scale and in the use of a membrane containment system. Bureau Veritas has been supporting the project throughout, providing assistance to ensure the requirements for the safe use of LNG are addressed.”

The new ships will have a bunker capacity close to 18,000 cubic metres (cbm) and this represents a significantly higher volume than has been required in the LNG fuelled ship market. Bureau Veritas has investigated the feasibility of the design together with shipbuilding group China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) and GTT, the containment system designer.

Jean-François Segretain, Bureau Veritas Marine Technical Director says: “As CMA CGM have said, they will be the first shipping company in the world to equip giant containerships with LNG propulsion, pursuing a strong commitment to the protection of the environment and to ocean conservation. For us this is an exciting project to be involved in and our teams in China, supported by expertise in Paris, are looking forward to working on these innovative new ships.”

Segretain continues, “The award of class to Bureau Veritas further underlines Bureau Veritas leadership in the classification of LNG fuelled ships with, presently, the largest share of the orderbook for gas fuelled ships.”

Tags: Bureau Veritas (BV), CMA CGM