CMA CGM held a naming ceremony for the methanol dual-fuel containership CMA CGM ANTIGONE on 11 December at Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai, according to the company’s statement.
The vessel is the first methanol dual-fuel container ship the group has taken delivery of in China and the eighteenth ordered from the yard.
Senior representatives from CMA CGM, financial institutions, China Shipbuilding Trading and Jiangnan Shipyard attended the event, with CMA CGM China senior adviser Harriet Wu serving as the vessel’s godmother. The company states that Captain Zhang Zequan will command the ship, which will join the Phoenician Express (BEX2) route linking Asia, the Middle East and the Mediterranean.
The CMA CGM ANTIGONE is the lead ship in Jiangnan’s new “Kun” series of large methanol dual-fuel container vessels, described by Chinese maritime industry reports as in-house-designed, ultra-large and fuel-efficient, with an overall length of 366 metres.
Jiangnan is currently the only shipbuilder in China able to design and build ultra-large container ships for three different fuel options.
Jiangnan introduced several new construction and testing processes on the project, including structural strength tests for methanol tanks in the floating dock, transfer of a ring section of the methanol tank between shore and ship, integrity acceptance of accommodation and deckhouse units prior to lifting, elevator commissioning before delivery, full-ship simulated container stowage and lashing tests, commissioning of the engine-room power-generation motor before undocking, and the yard’s first safe methanol bunkering operation for a newbuild. The dock period was approximately three and a half months.
CMA CGM vice president Xavier Leclercq said the ship’s construction and delivery resulted from close cooperation among partners including Jiangnan Shipyard, China Shipbuilding Trading, BV and financial institutions, while Jiangnan deputy general manager Hu Hongyu noted that this is the eighteenth vessel built for CMA CGM since 2013.
The ship is 366 metres long with a beam of 51 metres, a summer deadweight of about 156,100 tonnes and classed by Bureau Veritas.
The methanol system uses rupture discs and spectacle flanges ahead of pressure-relief valves under an approved alternative design.
The CMA CGM ANTIGONE joins CMA CGM’s growing methanol-capable fleet, which includes the 13,000-TEU CMA CGM IRON and sister ships delivered in 2025 from South Korean yards as part of a twelve-vessel programme. CMA CGM has announced investments of nearly USD 20 billion in LNG- and methanol-powered ships and expects more than 150 low-carbon-fuel-capable vessels in service by 2029.
CMA CGM is a privately held French global shipping and logistics group that provides container transport, logistics services, air cargo operations and port terminal activities through multiple subsidiaries. Jiangnan Shipyard is a shipbuilding enterprise under China State Shipbuilding Corporation, specialising in commercial and naval vessels and operating design and construction facilities in Shanghai.