“The world is changing very quickly”

The shipping company CMA CGM will inaugurate its Tangram training and innovation center in Marseille on Wednesday, May 8, in the presence of the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron. After 2020-2022 was marked by a profit of 40 billion euros, the world’s third largest owner of container ships is entering a more complex period in its history, explains to World its CEO, Rodolphe Saadé.

Tangram’s ambition is to “create the sustainable transport and logistics of tomorrow”. Do they lack the ability to project into the future?

The world is changing very quickly and we needed a place where we could think about our work differently. I want Tangram to provide the tools to tackle the difficulties of today and tomorrow. Who would have predicted Covid-19, the war in Ukraine, the Red Sea crisis? CMA CGM has three challenges: climate, geopolitics and artificial intelligence (AI). With Tangram I invest in people. Employees are the key to meeting these challenges, accelerating our transformation and remaining in the top 3 globally.

I have made the commitment to be net zero by 2050, but we must be clear: it will be difficult. I hope we will have found the solutions by then. The Red Sea crisis is putting me behind as ships diverted via the Cape of Good Hope take two weeks longer between Asia and Northern Europe and use more fuel.

At the same time, we invested 15 billion euros in a fleet that runs on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and now on methanol. In December 2023, at COP28 in Dubai, I presented a roadmap developed together with MSC, Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd and Wallenius to achieve this ‘net zero’. CMA CGM was a pioneer in decarbonizing the economy; not all shipowners make this effort.

Your Asian competitors?

Yes. Since January, we have been paying a tax in Europe that will cost 140 million euros this year and almost 500 million euros in 2026. This tax must be global.

The International Maritime Organization must do the same [agence de l’ONU] decides on the best energy to propel our ships into the future. New fuels are twice as expensive as current fuels and require heavy investments in research and development (R&D). Today we invest in LNG and methanol, tomorrow in hydrogen and ammonia. I would like to strengthen cooperation with producers: we are prepared to commit to volumes. In turn, AI will allow us to better analyze data to serve customers and optimize our maneuvers to limit their footprint.

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