China hosted the steel cutting ceremony for the hulls of the first two ships of CMA CMG’s nine 22,500 TEU LNG-powered Ultra Large Container Vessels (ULCV). The new giant ships will have an interesting feature that is believed to be a ‘game-changer’: The ‘Bulbless’ bow design, which is made specially for ‘slow-steaming.’With MSC’s similar ULCVs which are currently being constructed in South Korea, these giants will be the largest containerships in the seas, and the first of their kinds to extend to 24 containers across their weather decks. CMA CGM’s new flagships will also be the first constructed with a “bulbless” bow, as the French carrier commits its future to slow-steaming.For decades now, containerships featured an elegant protruding bulb shape at the bow. But the new design, which is like a tugboat, has the potential to become the new normal on liner trades, where lower unit costs have won out over fast transit times.The bulbous bow creates an artificial wave, which modifies the water flow around the hull, reducing drag while increasing speed and fuel efficiency. Studies have put the fuel efficiency gain at up to 15 percent at near full speed. However, consultant Alphaliner notes, the advantages of a bulbous bow containership –more complex and therefore more expensive– have waned with the advent of slow-steaminga in the past decade, causing the fuel efficiency percentage gain to drop significantly. Moreover, vessels that sail at less than full draught; for example, with backloads of empty containers; also see the advantages of a bulbous bow eroded. This has prompted the retrofitting of replacement bows, designed specifically to be more efficient at slower speeds, to a number of container vessels over the past few years.
Alphaliner also indicated that, at the time of CMA CGM’s USD 1,2 billion order in September 2017, ULCVs’ released images did have conventional bulbous bow designs. But new images that are provided at the cutting ceremony in Hudong Zhonghua Shipyard, revealed a vertical stem design.
Notwithstanding the unit cost advantage of deploying LNG-powered vessels, CMA CGM is clearly seeking every opportunity to ensure its new ships will be the most cost-efficient in the industry. Since September, the price of IFO 380 heavy fuel oil has risen from some USD 320 per ton to USD 440, and with predictions of further spikes to come, the rise in the cost of bunkers is currently the biggest risk to sustained profitability in the industry. German rating agency Scope said on the last days of July that it expected a rise of about 25 percent in bunker prices this year, compared with 2017, which is commented to squeeze the thin profit margins of carriers. Scope’s report indicated that increased crude oil and bunker prices and flat shipping rates would continue to put severe pressure on the operating profitability of older and less-efficient vessels.
In addition, with the IMO’s 0.5 percent sulphur cap regulations that’ll come into force from Jan. 1, 2020 on; ocean carriers must endeavor to future-proof their fleets from the impact of a further potential 50 percent jump in fuel costs.
