French shipping line CMA CGM has announced the launch of the first fully electric container barge in Vietnam with Nike as its first customer to commit to using the service.
The vessel is supported by a newly constructed solar-powered charging station at the Cai Mep port, the country’s main container gateway near Ho Chi Minh City.
As part of this initiative, CMA CGM said it had signed an agreement with its long-standing partner, logistics and port operator Gemadept, to establish a joint venture named Green River Transportation, which will operate the electric barge. The new entity will manage river transport services in the Mekong Delta.
The electric barge will be powered by a dedicated charging station connected to a new solar farm located on the Gemalink terminal at Cai Mep. The facility is expected to generate up to 1 GWh of green electricity per year.
This new zero-emission solution will reduce CO₂ emissions by 778 tonnes per year on the 180 km route between Binh Duong Province and Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu, in southern Vietnam.
The shipping line’s long-time customer Nike is the first partner to commit to using the electric barge in its logistics chain between its Vietnam-based manufacturing sites and the Gemalink container terminal.
CMA CGM said the low-carbon logistics model had been designed to be replicated with other customers in additional countries, especially where inland waterways played a key role in supply chains.
The initiative is aligned with CMA CGM’s global strategy to reach net zero carbon by 2050, through a combination of low-carbon technologies, alternative fuels, and now zero-emissions river logistics solutions.
The electric barge is scheduled to enter service in early 2026.
