CMA CGM Donates 200,000 Face Masks

Flanked by stacks of boxes containing 200,000 respirator face masks, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said CMA CGM's donation "reflects the power of partnerships."

Garcetti thanked the French ocean carrier for the gift of the face masks to Logistics Victory Los Angeles at the Port of LA last week. The mayor in early April tapped Port of LA Executive Director Gene Seroka to serve as the city's chief logistics officer and charged him with getting personal protective equipment essential in the fight against the spread of the coronavirus into the hands of first responders.

CMA CGM acquired CEVA Logistics last year. (Photo: CMA CGM)

Ed Aldridge, president of CMA CGM and APL North America, said, "We are proud to provide these masks as a gesture of our dedication to the great people of Los Angeles and to our partners at the Port of LA, who do an absolutely outstanding job working our vessels every week. As the largest ocean carrier today calling the Port of Los Angeles and our nation's largest ocean carrier, we are absolutely committed to help the U.S. recover from the effects of this pandemic.

"CMA CGM today is harnessing the best of our organization, including CEVA Logistics and American President Lines, to deliver differentiated ocean services and customized end-to-end logistics solutions for the vital products that need to be delivered faster, safely and, always, economically and environmentally in a reliable manner," Aldridge said.

Carbon Neutral By 2050

On the environmental front, Chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saadé told the United Nations Global Compact on Tuesday that CMA CGM aims to be carbon neutral by 2050.

He added that CMA CGM is on track to reduce its CO2 emissions per tonne transported per kilometer by 40% by 2030, a target set by the International Maritime Organization.

The 200,000 face masks were unpacked at the Port of LA last week. (Photo: CMA CGM)

"In 2019, we reduced our total CO2 emissions by 6%. These significant reductions were made possible thanks to our mobilization, the technological innovations implemented and an improved management of vessel operations," Saadé said.

Saadé also committed that by 2023, 10% of CMA CGM's energy supplies will consist of alternative fuels.

He said the company is launching vessels powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) this year. These megaships are hailed as the world's largest LNG-powered container ships, with a capacity of 23,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

"This is a worldwide premiere, resulting in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of around 20% and the suppression of almost all sulfur and fine particle emissions," Saadé said. "This is a major event. It symbolizes the path that we are taking in terms of energy transition using the most advanced eco-friendly technology available today."

The company launched the first of these LNG-powered container ships, the CMA CGM Jacques Saadé, named for the late founder, in September. CMA CGM said at the time that eight more 23,000-TEU LNG-powered ships would be deployed this year on Asia-Europe services.

Click to read more FreightWaves articles by Kim Link-Wills.

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