CMA CGM Matisse at Le Havre, France
CMA CGM Matisse at Rotterdam, Holland
CMA CGM Matisse at Brooklyn, New York, USA	CMA CGM Matisse at Norfolk, Virginia, USA

Technical details

The ship:

The CMA CGM Matisse was built by the China Shipping Corporation in Keelung (Taiwan).
Its keel was laid on April 3, 1999; it was launched on September 7, 1999, and delivered on November 10, 1999.
The modern French-flag fully containerised vessel is owned by CMA CGM.
The French Liner is staffed with French officers and a French chef, with Romanian junior officers and crew.

The CMA CGM Matisse can carry 2'262 containers which put together are 13.3 km long.
The power of the engine equals to aprox. 25'000 horse power or 313 small cars.
The electrical power generated is enough to feed a village with 4'500 inhabitants.

The ship offers 3 cabins with space for up to six passengers.
The Owner's Cabin measures about 26 square meters, and has two twin beds measuring about 110 cm each.
The two double cabins are about 22 square meters, with double bed measuring about 140 cm.
All cabins have private facilities and consist of one room plus the bathroom (with shower).
The ship is equipped with an indoor swimming pool, small fitness room (bicycle, rowing machine, ping-pong table), a lounge / video room and has an elevator.
A TV and a DVD-player are installed in the lounge; a good selection of DVDs is available.
The library is equipped with French and English books.
The CAM CGM Matisse has French cuisine; meals are offered in the Officer's mess room.
Language on board is French, English and Romanian, used currency EUR and voltage 220V / 60 Hz.

Organising a trip like this ...

The "Tourism" centre of the CMA-CGM offers "travelling by cargo carrier", sailing around the world onboard container carriers.
One has the opportunity to observe the sea and the crew's work, and dock in the world's main harbours.
The CMA CGM Matisse on regular basis offers 84-day Round-the-World trips.

Our contact was:

Mrs Marie-Paule Aubert
Phone : +33-(0)4-88.66.65.01
Fax : +33-(0)4-88.66.65.29
Mail : mpaubert@cma-cgm-croisieres.com

Details of M/V CMA CGM Matisse

Floor Plans Overall

Compass Bridge (Pont Compass)

Nav. Bridge Deck / Wheel-House (Deck Nav)

Navigation and Control Desk

Clinometer; wind speed indicator; tachometer

Steering Wheel and Steering Gear Alarm Panel

Alerts and Signalling Desk

Chart Desk

Route planning, control and reporting; weather reports; cruise and incident log; checklist control

Communication

Immersat phone; Doppler speed control; master clock; sonar (just 4.6.m water under keel); transponder

Main navigation display; GPS; coast control messages; various instructions for odd situations

Outer Control Boards

Verifying Navigation Equipment Accuracy

Navigation - Various Display and Chart Examples

Pilot's Plans

Auckland inbound

Auckland outbound

Botany Bay (Sydney)

Port Phillip (Melbourne)

Adelaide

Deck F (Pont F)

Administrative Office (Local Administratif)

Deck E (Pont E)

Batteries Room

Cabins

Owner's cabin

Conference room and saloon; passenger's lounge

Deck D (Pont D)

Officer's cabins and officer's laundry and dry room

Deck C (Pont C)

Crew's Laundry and Dry Room

Life raft and Survival

Life raft for 30 people; one life raft each side of the vessel

Water and food for 30 people for several days.

First aid kit

Extensive, superb survival guides

Signalling devices

Auxiliary life raft

Survival dresses are available for all on board.

Deck B (Pont B)

Gymnasium (Salle de Sports) and Library

Officer's Pantry (Office Officiers)

Galley (Cuisine)

The modern kitchen also has a Pizza oven where fresh baguettes are baked every day.

Recreation Room / Mess (Sale à Manger Officers, Maîtres et PEX, Carré Officiers)

Crew's mess and recreation room

Officer's mess (passengers table on the left)

Officer's smoking room

Deck A (Pont A)

Aircon and Refrigeration Machine Unit Room (Local Air Conditionne et Frigo Vivres)

Provisions Store, Meat and Vegetables Fridge-room and Freezer-rooms (Cambuse, Chambers Froids)

Dirty Linen Room (Linge Sale)

Ship's Office (PC Cargaison)

The load/unload operation is coordinated from this office. After loading the ship is perfectly levelled by filling/draining ballast water tanks (heeling tanks).

Fire Station Room (A.I.P.)

Fire and security installations

Level Deck

Container Loading

Note: The enlarged animated GIF is 10 MB in size.

Lashing

Level Deck - Midships

On the level deck one can walk around the whole vessel. The deck is closed at high sea.
In this case the bow can be reached on an inner corridor on a lower deck.

While in harbours access to the vessel is strictly controlled.

Fresh air inlets

Level Deck - Stern

The "roof" of the deck is actually the floors of the lowest level of loaded containers.

The area is off-limits for passengers during berthing operations.

Container Crane

Stern view with 2 empty container stacks.
The cranes are only used where no facilities are provided in the harbour.

Level Deck - Bow

Splash wall in front of the containers and the spare anchor.

Bow "nose" (correct name unknown) below the water line.

Anchor chains are rinsed with water when the anchor is raised.

Anchor chains on deck.

Under Deck - Bow

Entry to bow from deck; can be sealed off in heavy seas.

Access to anchor chain chamber

Anker chain storage under deck

End of anchor chain and emergency release stud to drop anchor chain

Spare anchor shackle and chain link

Spare ropes

Spare lashing gear, window glass, deck rails and other stuff .....

... yes, also a coffin is part of the equipment - generated a creepy feeling when we found it .....

Electrical and hydraulic installation for the winches at the bow

Chemical protection suits

Bow Thruster Room

Bow thrusters are water turbines used to push a ship sideways while manoeuvering harbours. The Matisse has only a bow thruster.

The bow thruster room is several decks under water at the level of the lowest containers.

Testing the bow thrusters

Under Deck - Midships

Pool

Under Deck - Stern: Engine Room (Salle des Machines)

Control room

Stairs down to the Main Engine

Main Diesel Engine

Single cylinders can be taken out of operation and get replaced at sea while the motor keeps on running on the remaining cylinders.

Cylinder Heads, fuel injection, turbos ....

... and the piston screws extractor

Turbos

Crankshaft housing

Fuel supply. Crude oil must be pre-heated to 120°C before it can be used.
The engine is started with diesel fuel. When the exhaust gases have heated the crude oil in the boiler to the required temperature, the engine is switched to crude oil fuel.

Generator

Starter motor

Spare piston

Oil pressure gauges

Emergency Manoeuvring Desk

The diesel engine can be operated manually should the electronic one fail.

Steering

Should the steering control fail the vessel can be manually steered from here.

Drive shaft

Centrifuge

Boiler

Diesel-Operated Electrical Power Generators

4 generators - 1 of them being a spare

Desalination Fresh-Water Plant

Incinerator

Pumps

Work Shop

Posters

Welcome tags

Matisse in Dry Dock in Singapore (Photos: Antoine Barbey, 2. Captain)

Stern; rudder and propeller; bow; bow thruster.

Stern; rudder and propeller; bow with anchor and bow thruster.

The Night from April 15 to 16, 2005 (Photos: Antoine Barbey, 2. Captain)

This happened on the cruise prior to our cruise.

A severe storm hit the Matisse in the night of the 15th of April 2005 between Norfolk and Savannah (USA).
According the 2. Captain Antoine Barbey the vessel rolled sideways up to 37° which caused serious destruction on board.
Thanks Antoine for the photos.

Passenger's lounge

Gymnasium and library

Administrative office

Provisions store

Laundry