Posted on July 6, 2026
CMA CGM — the third largest container shipping company in the world — has received the delivery of the Notre Dame, a 24,212 TEU container ship with a length of 400 meters and a beam of 62 meters, powered by liquefied natural gas in a sector that still predominantly burns heavy fuel oil and accounts for about 2.5% of global CO₂ emissions.
The size that the Notre Dame represents in real numbers
24,212 TEUs is the capacity in 20-foot containers — the industry standard unit of measurement. For reference: a standard 20-foot container can fit two medium-sized cars side by side, or 25,000 bananas. The Notre Dame can carry more than 600,000 refrigerators, or the production of a Chinese electronics factory for entire months in a single trip.
400 meters in length places the Notre Dame in the same range as the largest ships ever built. For comparison, the Christ the Redeemer, if laid down, would be 38 meters. The Notre Dame has more than 10 Christs laid from bow to stern. In the crossing of the Suez Canal — which is 193 meters wide at its narrowest part — a ship of this size passes with calculated clearance in meters on each side.
62 meters in beam — the width — means that the Notre Dame does not fit in the docks of most ports in the world. It only operates in deep water terminals with berths designed for ultra-large container vessels (ULCV) — which includes the world’s largest transshipment hubs: Port Said, Singapore, Tanjung Pelepas, Algeciras, Rotterdam.
