CMA CGM held a ceremony on board CMA CGM’s new 365 meter-long, 52.1 meter (20 containers) wide fleet flagship, the Cristophe Colomb on Friday the 11th to welcome the giant technologically advanced vessel to the Port of Rotterdam on its maiden voyage from Asia. The Christophe Colomb, drawing 15.2 meters, joins the weekly 10-vessel AE7 service string, calling APM Terminals Rotterdam, operated in partnership with Maersk Line between China and Europe.
“We are very proud to welcome this excellent example of maritime technology and efficiency to the Port of Rotterdam and to the APM Terminals Global Terminal Network” said terminal Managing Director Hans van Kerkhof, who presented the Captain with a plaque commemorating the event.
French-based CMA CGM is the world’s third-largest containershipping line with a fleet of 352 vessels representing an overall capacity of over 1 million TEUs. Delivered on November 10th from the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Company of South Korea, the Christophe Colomb and its planned sister vessels have been designed for maximum fuel efficiency with electronically controlled engines- and can be recognized by the superstructure location in the front of the vessel, to maximize load capacity.
With an annual throughout of 2.6 million TEUs, APM Terminals Rotterdam is one of the largest container terminals in Europe and in the APM Terminals Global Terminal Network. APM Terminals Rotterdam recently went “green” with electricity for gantry crane and other operations now generated by clean-energy wind power. CMA CGM moves approximately 60,000 TEUs through APM Terminals Rotterdam yearly.
