The CMA CGM Notre Dame, the world’s largest containership currently sailing under the French flag, has made its maiden call at the Port of Singapore. The 24,212 TEU LNG-powered vessel departed on its inaugural commercial voyage from Shanghai and will continue to France and Europe in early July, where it will be officially named in Le Havre on July 2.
The vessel
The CMA CGM Notre Dame measures 400 metres in length, 62 metres wide and 75 metres high. It is the first in a series of ten 24,212 TEU LNG-powered vessels registered under the French International Register (RIF). The ship is equipped with advanced artificial intelligence, digital navigation and energy-efficiency technologies designed to improve operational performance and support maritime decarbonisation.
Service deployment
The vessel is deployed on CMA CGM’s French Asia Line (FAL), the group’s strategic service connecting Asia and Northern Europe. The rotation covers a cycle of approximately 102 days, calling at Ningbo, Shanghai, Yantian, Singapore, Le Havre, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Tangier Med. The FAL is one of the world’s main trade corridors and plays a key role in supplying European economies.
French flag strategy
The decision to register the entire series under the French flag was announced in November 2025. It is accompanied by the recruitment of 135 French seafarers trained specifically to operate the ten vessels.
Singapore presence
The maiden call reinforces CMA CGM’s strategic presence in Singapore across shipping, logistics and maritime decarbonisation, in partnership with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and regional stakeholders.
“The CMA CGM Notre Dame represents a new generation of vessels that combines scale, technology and environmental responsibility. Its deployment on the FAL and registration under the French flag reflect our long-term commitment to the energy transition and to supporting global trade” said Rodolphe Saadé, chairman and chief executive officer, CMA CGM Group.
