CMA CGM, Nike and Gemadept Launch Electric Barge in Vietnam

A battery-electric container barge now carries Nike cargo on a 180-kilometre round trip between Ho Chi Minh City and the Gemalink deep-sea terminal in Cai Mep, with CMA CGM, Nike and Vietnamese port operator Gemadept officially launching the service after a previously announced collaboration.

The vessel, designed by CMA CGM's New Build and Research and Development teams with battery technology supplied by CATL, is built to move more than 50,000 TEUs annually. CMA CGM puts the avoided emissions at roughly 778 tonnes of CO₂ per year — equivalent to taking several hundred diesel trucks off the road — with no direct greenhouse gas output during operation.

That figure, it should be noted, covers the barge itself. The claim rests on the charging loop being genuinely renewable, which the partners say it is.

How the system works

The project ties together three components:

• a fully electric barge running the inland leg;
• dedicated charging infrastructure at the terminal;
• renewable electricity generated by a solar farm at Gemalink.

Recharging takes approximately four hours using certified renewable power. The design replaces truck movements on the corridor between inland logistics facilities and the deep-sea port, shifting container volume from road to battery-powered waterway transport.

Nike's inland drop-off point sits in Ho Chi Minh City, on territory that formerly belonged to Binh Duong province. From there, containers move by barge directly to Gemalink, one of the Cai Mep terminals handling Vietnam's mainline ocean traffic.

What the operators said

Christine Cabau, Executive Vice President Assets and Operations at CMA CGM, framed the project as proof that carriers, customers and terminal operators can jointly build lower-carbon transport solutions. Do Cong Khanh, Deputy CEO of Gemadept Corporation and Chairman of Gemalink Deep-Sea Port, pointed to the integration of inland waterways, port infrastructure and renewable energy as the initiative's defining feature.

Neither executive attached a cost figure to the project, and none appears in the launch announcement. The 778-tonne CO₂ saving is an estimate, not an audited result, and the partners did not disclose the barge's capacity per sailing.

Why it matters commercially

For shippers, the service offers a decarbonised inland option in a sourcing market where major brands face tightening scope 3 emissions reporting. For CMA CGM, it extends control over the pre-carriage leg of the supply chain in a country where the carrier runs 29 weekly mainline services calling at seven ports, connecting Vietnam to major international markets.

For Gemadept, the solar-charged barge strengthens the case for Gemalink as a green gateway against competing Cai Mep terminals. The partners say they intend to explore replicating the model in other markets and adapting it to additional customer supply chains — an intention, not yet a commitment, and no target markets were named.

The operational test now is whether a four-hour recharge cycle and single-vessel capacity can sustain a 50,000-TEU annual flow without fallback to road haulage. The launch ceremony has happened; the emissions math will be settled over the first full year of sailings.