Explorer-class container ship

{{Short description|China/South Korea-built French cargo vessel}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}

The Explorer class is a series of large container ships built for CMA CGM. The first five ships are {{convert|365|m|ftin}} long with a nominal capacity of 13,830 TEU; the last three are larger, at {{convert|396|m|ftin}} and 16,020 TEU, making them the world's largest container ships until the delivery of the {{sclass2|Triple E|container ship|4}}. Advanced simulators were built to help crews learn how to handle the new ships.{{cite web|url=http://www.dnv.com/industry/maritime/publicationsanddownloads/publications/updates/container/2010/2-2010/cmacgmputscompetenceattheforefrontofitsnewbuildingprogramme.asp|title=CMA CGM puts competence at the forefront of its newbuilding programme|publisher=DNV|accessdate=23 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022211445/http://www.dnv.com/industry/maritime/publicationsanddownloads/publications/updates/container/2010/2-2010/cmacgmputscompetenceattheforefrontofitsnewbuildingprogramme.asp|archive-date=22 October 2013|url-status=dead}}

The ships are mostly named after explorers. Benjamin Franklin was not an explorer but made contributions to oceanography, Georg Forster was a naturalist and ethnologist who travelled with explorer James Cook, and Jules Verne was a novelist who wrote about explorations.