Capital Clean Energy Carriers (CCEC) and CMA CGM have formed a 50/50 joint venture to construct an $82.8 million, 20,000 cbm LNG bunkering vessel at China’s CIMC SOE shipyard, marking CCEC’s entry into the marine fuel supply sector. Upon its Q3 2028 delivery, the vessel will immediately enter a 12-year time charter with a CMA CGM and TotalEnergies joint venture, securing a long-term revenue stream while expanding critical low-emissions infrastructure for the maritime energy transition.
Athens | June 12, 2026 – In a move that underscores the maritime industry’s accelerating pivot toward alternative marine fuels, Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ: CCEC) has announced a high-profile joint venture with French shipping giant CMA CGM S.A. to construct and operate a newbuild 20,000 cbm LNG bunkering vessel.
The 50/50 joint venture marks a pivotal milestone for Athens-based CCEC, representing its official entry into the rapidly expanding LNG bunkering market and its first asset dedicated directly to downstream marine fuel supply.
The Vessel and Shipbuilding Contract
Coinciding with the formation of the joint venture, the entity has finalized a shipbuilding contract with Chinese specialized shipbuilder Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering Co., Ltd. (CIMC SOE).
- Contract Price: $82.8 million
- Capacity: 20,000 cbm
- Expected Delivery: Third Quarter of 2028
- Propulsion: Advanced dual-fuel power generation
The vessel will feature state-of-the-art emissions reduction systems designed to align with increasingly stringent global maritime environmental standards, including the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) decarbonization trajectories and FuelEU Maritime mandates. Engineered for versatility, the ship’s design will facilitate safe and efficient ship-to-ship LNG transfers across highly diverse operating and weather conditions.
Secured Long-Term Employment: The TotalEnergies Connection
In a structure that significantly mitigates market risk, the joint venture has lined up immediate, long-term employment for the vessel upon its delivery from the yard.
The ship is slated to enter a 12-year time charter with another joint venture company, this one formed between CMA CGM S.A. and energy major TotalEnergies S.A. This commercial structure guarantees a predictable, long-term revenue stream for CCEC while securing critical bunker infrastructure for CMA CGM’s growing fleet of LNG-fueled container ships and TotalEnergies’ global marine fuel portfolio.
| Structure Layer | Entity / Asset | Key Details & Commercial Terms |
| Shareholders | CCEC & CMA CGM S.A. | Joint venture partners with equal 50% / 50% equity ownership. |
| Project | Newbuild Joint Venture | Established to build and operate one 20,000 cbm dual-fuel LNG bunkering vessel. |
| Charterer | CMA CGM / TotalEnergies JV | The end-user entity securing the vessel’s capacity for marine fuel supply. |
| Contract Terms | 12-Year Time Charter | Fixed-term commercial contract commencing upon shipyard delivery in Q3 2028. |
Executive Perspectives
Jerry Kalogiratos, CEO of CCEC, highlighted the strategic logic of moving down the gas value chain:
“This joint venture marks CCEC’s entry into LNG bunkering, a natural extension of our gas platform from carriage into marine fuel supply. Working alongside counterparties of the calibre of CMA CGM and TotalEnergies, we can help build the infrastructure that allows LNG to deliver a cleaner emissions profile, alongside security and diversity of supply, while opening a new, long-term contracted revenue stream for the Company through the Joint Venture.”
Christine Cabau, Executive Vice President Operations and Assets of CMA CGM, emphasized the necessity of infrastructure to back up alternative fuel investments:
“Together with Capital Clean Energy Carriers and TotalEnergies, we are committed to building a reliable and high-performance LNG bunkering supply chain, which is essential to ensuring the availability and reliability of fuels such as LNG that represent the first step in the decarbonization of our industry.”
CCEC’s Fleet Profile and Transition Strategy
The move solidifies CCEC’s rebranding and repositioning as a pure-play energy transition gas carrier. Originally heavily weighted toward container assets, the company has aggressively scaled its gas portfolio.
| Vessel Type | On the Water | Under Construction (Delivery ’26–’29) | Total Fleet |
| Latest-Gen LNG Carriers | 13 | 8 | 21 |
| Dual-Fuel Medium Gas Carriers (MGCs) | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Handy LCO2 / Multi-Gas Carriers | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| LNG DF Bunkering Vessels | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Legacy Neo-Panamax Containerships | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total Assets | 17 | 16 | 33 |
By anchoring its latest newbuild against a 12-year charter with tier-one charterers, CCEC replicates its core industrial shipping model within the specialized bunkering niche. The 20,000 cbm capacity also positions the newbuild at the higher end of the bunkering scale, optimized to service the mega-containerships increasingly deployed on Asia-Europe and Transpacific loops.
About CMA CGM
CMA CGM, headed by Rodolphe Saadé, is a French container transportation and logistics giant and a world leader in maritime transport. Headquartered in Marseille, the Group operates a highly modern fleet of over 700 vessels serving 420 of the world’s 521 commercial ports across 177 countries. Committed to the maritime energy transition, CMA CGM pioneered the use of dual-fuel LNG technology in large container shipping and continues to aggressively expand its “e-methane ready” and methanol-powered fleet, aiming to establish a highly resilient, low-carbon global supply chain to achieve net-zero carbon operations by 2050.
About Capital Clean Energy Carriers
Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ: CCEC), an international shipping company, is a leading platform of gas carriage solutions with a focus on energy transition. CCEC’s in-the-water fleet includes 17 high-specification vessels, including 13 latest-generation LNG/Cs, one legacy Neo-Panamax container vessel, one dual-fuel medium gas carrier, and two handy LCO2/multi-gas carriers. In addition, CCEC’s under-construction fleet includes eight additional latest-generation LNG/Cs, five dual-fuel medium gas carriers, two handy LCO2/multi-gas carriers, and one LNG DF Bunkering vessel to be delivered between the second quarter of 2026 and the first quarter of 2029.
Source: CECC