CMA CGM Marco Polo: The Largest Container Ship in the World

CMA CGM Marco Polo: The Largest Container Ship in the World

Christened after a world renowned adventurer, the world’s biggest cargo ship Marco Polo, is truly a ship befitting the adventurer’s repute.

Owned and operated by the French shipping empire CMA CGM (Compagnie Maritime Affrètement Compagnie Générale Maritime), the vessel has garnered innumerable accolades in a mere month since being put into operation. Bearing constructional emphasis of the South Korean shipbuilding titan Daewoo, the biggest container ship is a peerless wonder, the first in a trio of vessels commissioned by the company.

Employed in the conglomerate’s French-Asian Line (FAL) route, the largest container ship in the world joins a prestigious line of vessels plying in this marine transiting network. The FAL route connects various important Northern European maritime trading zones with their Chinese counterparts and as such is one of the most important maritime routes where the organisation’s services are majorly engaged.

CMA CGM Marco Polo: Technical Characteristics

• The biggest container ship has a TEU capacitance of over 16,000 tonnes with a GRT of over 1, 50,000 tonnes

• Measuring almost 400 metres lengthwise, the vessel has a breadth of almost 55 metres, a draft of about 16 metres and can accommodate up to 27 crewing personnel

• The vessel’s constructional aspects are one-of-a-kind, and are based so as to ensure the compliance of the stipulations of the IMO pertaining to reduction of emanations of toxic gases

• German engineering enterprise Wartsila has provided the engine motor for the vessel. Operated through diesel fuelling, the engine motor is capable of producing over 80,000 kilowatts (KW) of energy without any major emanations

• The CMA CGM vessel is registered as per the vessel registration stipulations of the United Kingdom and has been graded by the classification society, Bureau Veritas

The Marco Polo container ship undertook her first navigation on the seventh of November, earlier this year and is expected to fulfill the remainder of her intended navigation itinerary by the end of January in the coming year.

CMA CGM Marco Polo will soon hand over the mantle of being the world’s biggest cargo ship to Maersk’s Triple E container ship, within a few months. But irrespective of the shortness of time-span for the vessel’s elite and distinctive status in the container shipping sector, Marco Polo has truly and successfully revolutionized the paradigm of container shipping for many more decades to come.

Source: http://www.marineinsight.com/