On 26 October, CMA CGM Group and Yokohama Kawasaki International Port Corporation (YKIP) signed a reservation agreement for the Honmokufuto D5 container terminal at the Port of Yokohama in Japan.
This primes the relocation of CMA CGM’s current container terminal operations at D4 to D5 by October 2026, according to a statement.
This agreement promises more capacity at the container terminal and a more than doubling of reefer plugs. The D5 terminal will have a cargo pier with a linear length of 400 metres of quay and a draught of 16 metres.
This is expected to give CMA CGM greater flexibility in receiving cargo arriving in larger vessels up to 15,000 TEU capacity.
The D5 terminal will be designed to provide 20% more capacity in the container yard and approximately 120% more container reefer plugs than today.
Furthermore, it is envisaged that the D5 container terminal will be operated with three dock cranes capable of handling ships with up to 20 rows of containers and up to nine containers high on deck, as well as 11 near-zero emission rubber tyred gantry cranes.
At the same time, LNG tankage facilities will also be developed at the port. In this way, there will potentially be LNG tankage on the French carrier's LNG-powered ships ready for e-methane, a carbon-neutral fuel source.
Hideki Uchida, president of CMA CGM Japan, commented, "As we prime for our larger vessels to ship more inbound cargoes to 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."
