CMA CGM Group's fight against Climate Change

The Group offers today a complete range of activities including shipping, handling facilities in ports as well as logistics on land. Its main objective is to offer customers all over the world a proactive, innovative service which reconciles quality and high performance with protection of the environment.

For many years now the Group has been committed to a global environmental strategy defined by its Chairman and CEO, Jacques R Saadé. Protecting the environment is one of the company’s core objectives, as evidenced by the many actions taken to minimise the impact of the Group’s activities and to support development of new ever more economic and eco-friendly solutions for its customers.

Led by the Environment Committee, CMA CGM ecoactions are based on four key objectives: fighting climate change, protecting the marine environment, offering eco-friendly solutions to the Group’s customers and developing an environmentally aware culture.

Fighting against climate change is the major preoccupation of CMA CGM Group. Therefore the company has embarked on a policy to acquire new vessels incorporating the very latest technologies, such as:

 – An electronic injection system for the engine of its vessels, reducing consumption of fuel (-3%) and oil (-25%).

– A twisted leading edge rudder, oriented in order to optimize the flow of water, considerably reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

 – A pre-Swirl Stator, which alters the inflow angles to the propeller to maximize propulsion efficiency.

– An optimized hull design improving the hydrodynamics of the vessel, as well as the equipment required to connect to a port’s electricity supply during operations.

CMA CMG Group managed to reduce the carbon print of its activity and is aiming towards a reduction of 20% of CO2 emission and the elimination of emissions of polluting gases, by 2015.

The good health of the marine environment is one of the most important concerns of CMA CGM Group. Therefore, in order to significantly limit print of its activity on the environment, the Group decided to apply some modifications to its ships.

Anti-fouling coating. In 1999, even before it became the law, the CMA CGM Group had already decided to use an anti-fouling coating that did not use TBT on the hulls of its vessels. Since then older vessels have been systematically repainted with the TBT-free coating when they come into the yard for careening.

Fast oil Recovery System. The latest vessels of the Group are also equipped with a new pollution prevention technique (the Fast Oil Recovery System) which enables hydrocarbons to be rapidly recovered at any time without going through the hull.

IMO’s 2004 International Convention. Going even further in the environment preservation, the Group contributes to the protection of the marine and coastal ecosystems in compliance with the IMO’s 2004 International Convention. Indeed, a ballast management plan is in operation on all CMA CGM Group’s vessels. Exchanges are made out to sea in deep water at least 200 miles from the coast.

“Green ship”. And finally, the Group is committed to an innovative, ecological and exemplary approach dubbed the “Green ship”, reducing waste and garbage.

A pioneer in the development and provision of ecocontainers for its customers, the CMA CGM Group has just acquired another 18,000 new units, bringing its eco-container fleet to nearly 140,000 teus.

The Group has been studying and implementing numerous innovative solutions to improve the ecoperformance of a container.

Floors: since 2005 the Group has been offering customers containers with bamboo floors which meet two objectives: to limit the use of wood from primary forest and to improve the technical qualities of the containers. Today more than 10% of the Group’s fleet is equipped with this type of flooring. The Group is also currently testing new synthetic resin flooring.

Steel: CMA CGM owns 4,500 Light Steel containers made from strong high tensile steel, which saves 550 kg on a high-cube’s tare weight without compromising its structural qualities.

Reefer’s Motor: the Group has invested in 3,500 containers fitted with low energy-use motors, reducing electricity and fuel consumption by up to three times. It has also equipped 15,000 standard reefers with software to optimise energy consumption, that’s 20% of the Group’s reefer fleet.

Paint-work: the Group is currently testing a new water-based paint on some 3,000 containers which CMA CGM Christophe Columb will cut VOC (volatile organic compound) emissions by over 90%.

The Group continues to promote cleaner alternative modes of transport through the development of its feedering, rail (RAIL LINK EUROPE) and barges (RIVER SHUTTLE CONTAINERS) activities in France and worldwide. Reliable, efficient, and cost-effective, these types of transport are providing a good, eco-friendly alternative to congested highway traffic and provide the clients a door-to-door service.

Accessible to all the Group’s customers as part of the on-line solutions offered by CMA CGM via e-business, this latest tool produces an accurate calculation of the carbon footprint of a journey, based on real data including points of departure and arrival, volume of freight, fuel consumption and vessel speed. Developed according to the methodology of an international body, the CCWG (Clean Cargo Working Group), this eco-calculator will be the first to be verified by the Bureau Veritas.

The launching of this innovative tool is therefore in line with the Group’s commitment to fighting climate change, one that has already seen a 26% drop in CO2 emissions between 2007 and 2010 (from 107 to 85 grams/kilometre-teu). The target is 80g/km-teu by the end of 2012, a reduction of 30% in five years.

“Reducing its environmental impact has been for long one of the key objectives of CMA CGM Group, the world’s third largest container shipping group. Combating climate change, preservation of the oceans, proposing eco-friendly solutions to customers and developing an environmentally aware culture within the company are key components of its policy”, explains Philippe Borel, Environment Director for the CMA CGM Group.