CMA CGM commissions first container ship in dedicated West Indies trade

The 219m-long French-flagged vessel has been designed specifically for the trade, with a relatively shallow draft adapted for West Indian ports and 850 reefer plugs, equivalent in capacity to two large conventional reefer vessels.
Having reaffirmed its commitment to the important trans-Atlantic trade with the renewal in November of its transport contract with UGPBAN, the professional association of banana producers of Guadeloupe and Martinique, the container line will be transporting 270,000 tonnes of bananas a year from the French Caribbean islands to Dunkerque between now and 2026.
The other three vessels with identical features – the CMA CGM Fort Royal, CMA CGM Fort Saint Charles and the CMA CGM Fort Fleur D’Epee are due for delivery over the spring and summer of this year. The ships will replace the existing ‘Fort’ vessels on the company’s North Europe French West Indies service.