CMA CGM has held the naming ceremony for CMA CGM Notre Dame in Le Havre, presenting the vessel as the largest container ship operating under the French flag and the first in a series of ten new liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered units. The Marseille-based group said the ship is 399 metres long, 61.3 metres wide and able to carry up to 24,000 TEU, marking a major expansion of its French-flagged deep-sea fleet.
The ceremony took place on 2 July 2026 at Le Havre, where the vessel was received during an inaugural port call. CMA CGM said the Notre Dame will operate on the French Asia Line, the group’s Asia-Europe service, linking major Asian ports with northern European hubs. The naming also carried a symbolic dimension: the ship’s name refers to Notre-Dame de Paris, one of France’s most recognisable cultural landmarks.
Le Havre: a 24,000 TEU flagship for the French register
The scale of CMA CGM Notre Dame places it among the largest container ships in service. Its 24,000 TEU capacity reflects the continued concentration of Asia-Europe container traffic around ultra-large vessels, which require deep-water terminals, long berths and extensive crane capacity. HAROPA Port described Le Havre as one of the few European ports able to accommodate ships of this size, underlining the port’s role as France’s principal gateway on the northern range.
According to details reported by Le Monde on the Notre Dame inauguration, the vessel was built in a Chinese shipyard and will trade on the China-Europe route, where port infrastructure is sufficiently developed for ships of this scale. The newspaper also reported that CMA CGM aims to move toward second place among global container shipowners by 2027.
French flag and China-Europe trade: a strategic shipping signal
The Notre Dame is the first of ten sister ships that CMA CGM says will enter service under the French flag by January 2028. The programme is expected to increase the group’s French-flag fleet from 30 to 40 vessels and support the recruitment of 135 French seafarers over the next two years.
For CMA CGM, the decision is both commercial and political. Registering the ships in France reinforces the group’s stated support for French maritime sovereignty, national maritime training and the French merchant marine officer corps. Rodolphe Saadé, chairman and chief executive of CMA CGM, framed the decision as a commitment to the country’s maritime workforce.
“By choosing France, we are also choosing its seafarers, its officers and the excellence of its maritime school, whose headquarters are here in Le Havre,” Saadé said.
LNG propulsion and CMA CGM’s fleet ambitions
CMA CGM presents the Notre Dame as part of its wider energy-transition strategy. LNG propulsion can significantly reduce sulphur oxides, fine particles and nitrogen oxides compared with conventional marine fuels, while also lowering carbon dioxide emissions. It is not, however, a zero-carbon solution, and its climate value remains linked to methane management and future fuel pathways.
The group also says the vessel carries digital and artificial intelligence systems designed to adjust navigation in real time, optimise energy consumption and improve environmental performance. The Notre Dame therefore combines three priorities now shaping major container lines: larger carrying capacity, lower-emission propulsion and tighter digital control of operations on the world’s main trade corridors.
