The agreement was signed in October
The CMA CGM Group and the Yokohama Kawasaki International Port Corporation (YKIP) have signed a reservation agreement for the Honmokufuto D5 container terminal in the Port of Yokohama.
The D5 terminal will have a cargo berth with a linear quay length of 400 m and a draught of 16 m, providing CMA CGM the flexibility to accommodate larger vessels of up to 15,000 teu.
Hideki Uchida, president of CMA CGM Japan, said: “As we prime for our larger vessels to ship more inbound cargoes from Yokohama, particularly fresh fruits from Central and Southern America, the enhanced operational capabilities, container yard capacity and reefer plugs at the D5 terminal is set to take our service delivery a notch up.
“Importantly, we shall be able to further decarbonise shipping and container terminal operations through the infrastructure that is planned ahead.”
CMA CGM currently operates the D4 terminal at the Port of Yokohama, and the reservation agreement primes the relocation of the company’s operations to D5 by October 2026.
The D5 terminal will be designed to provide 20% more container yard capacity, and some 120% more container reefer plugs.
This will help CMA CGM to cater to the growing fresh fruit shipments to Yokohama on its weekly Asia Central South America 1 (ACSA1) service.
The terminal will also be operated with three quay cranes capable of serving ships of up to 20 rows of containers and up to nine containers high on deck, plus 11 near-zero emission rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes.
Shinya Hitomi, president and CEO of YKIP, said: “The Honmokufuto D5 Reconstruction Project is part of our mid-term management plan, and is an important project that the entire company is working on.
“YKIP is committed to the redevelopment project in cooperation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the City of Yokohama, and other related organisations, in order to bring the D5 container terminal into service as soon as possible.”
Cold ironing facilities will be installed for CMA CGM vessels to plug into shore power while they are at berth in the port, helping to lower emissions at berth.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering facilities will also be developed at the port, paving the way for potential LNG bunkering onboard CMA CGM’s LNG-powered vessels that are e-methane ready.
CMA CGM currently has 32 LNG-powered e-methane ready ships and the Group has plans to operate 77 such ships by 2026.
