[071219.EN.BIZ] CMA CGM Calls on France to Find New Energy - Fossil Fuels Must Go

FRENCH shipping giant CMA CGM has called on the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, to initiate an international coalition for an energy transition.

There was now a need to replace fossil fuels in the transportation and logistics, said CMA CGM Group chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saade,

President Macron accepted to actively support Mr Saade's initiative, whose first forum could be held on the occasion of the World Conservation Congress which will be organised in Marseille in June, reported the American Journal of Transportation.

"CMA CGM was the first shipping company to decide not to use the Northern Sea Route. Since then, many carriers have followed this major decision to protect the Arctic environment and its exceptional biodiversity," said CMA CGM Group chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saade,

"For over 10 years, the group has significantly reduced the speed of its vessels," he said, again stressing the firm's environmental concern on the occasion of the French Maritime Economy Conference (Assises de l'Economie de la Mer).

"In 2017, the group became the first in the world to order LNG-powered 23,000-TEU ultra-large container vessels. The first of these, the CMA CGM Jacques, Saade was launched in September 2019 and will make an exceptional call to Marseille in June 2020," he said.

Mr Saade also announced the choice of Marseille-Fos as a strategic hub in the Mediterranean for the supply of LNG for its future 15,000-TEU vessels.

President Macron accepted to actively support Mr Saade's initiative, whose first forum could be held on the occasion of the World Conservation Congress which will be organised in Marseille in June.

Formalised during the French Maritime Economy Conference, the "Eco-Energetic Transition of the Maritime Sector" project, led by the French Maritime Cluster, the ADEME (French Environment & Energy Management Agency), Bureau Veritas and CMA CGM, is a first step towards this future international partnership.

The aim is to carry out an inventory of available technologies and new developments in ship propulsion. The data collected will help guide and structure future work.

As the first shipping company in the world to have chosen LNG to power its ultra-large container vessels, CMA CGM is at the heart of the development of a global LNG supply chain.

To supply LNG to its future 15,000-TEU ships that will operate between Asia and the Mediterranean from 2021, Mr Saade chosen Marseille-Fos.

Source : HKSG / Photo : marineTraffic..