The CMA CGM Group has announced that 10 of its vessels’ bulbous bows are to be retrofitted in order to continue improving its fleet’s energy efficiency and reducing its environmental footprint. The bulbous bow exchanges that are performed within a week in repair yards’ drydocks significantly reduce the ship’s fuel consumption and cut CO2 emissions.
Bulbous bows are the underwater part of the bow. Because of their influence on the vessel’s wave resistance, their design has a major impact on the vessel hydrodynamic efficiency. They were initially designed for 24 knots sailing speed. Following the implementation of the slow steaming, the group’s vessels now sail at speeds between 16 to 18 knots. Bulbous bows have therefore been redesigned.
The new designs were shaped in cooperation with Hydrocéan, a French engineering company specialized in hydrodynamics and which performed the hydrodynamic calculations.
Those 10 vessels will be added to the list of 15 vessels, whose bulbous bows have been modified in 2013 and 2014. All vessels that have entered the CMA CGM fleet in 2014 are sailing with optimized bulbous bows.
With this optimization, the CMA CGM Group reinforces its environmental commitment. Its objective of 50 percent CO2/TEU-km reduction between 2005 and 2015 is on good tracks to be reached.