On Wednesday, May 8, in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron, French shipping and logistics giant CMA CGM inaugurated its Tangram training and innovation center in Marseille. After the years from 2020 to 2022 were marked by €40 billion in profits, the world's third largest container shipping company is entering a more complex period in its history, its CEO, Rodolphe Saadé, told Le Monde.
The world is changing very quickly, and we needed a place to think differently about our professions. I want Tangram to give us the tools to tackle the difficulties of today and tomorrow. Who could have predicted Covid-19, the war in Ukraine, the crisis in the Red Sea? CMA CGM faces three challenges: climate, geopolitics and artificial intelligence (AI). With Tangram, I'm investing in people. People are the key to meeting these challenges, accelerating our transformation and staying in the global top 3.
I'm committed to achieving zero net emissions by 2050, but let's be clear: It's going to be difficult. I hope we'll have found solutions by then. With the crisis in the Red Sea, I'm falling behind, since ships diverted around the Cape of Good Hope take two weeks longer to go between Asia and Northern Europe, and consume more fuel.
At the same time, we've invested €15 billion in a fleet that runs on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and now methanol. In December, at COP28 in Dubai, I presented a roadmap drawn up with MSC, Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd and Wallenius to achieve "net zero." CMA CGM was a pioneer in decarbonization, but not all shipping companies are making this effort.
Yes. Since January 2024, we've been paying a tax in Europe that will cost €140 million this year and almost 500 million in 2026. This tax must be global.
We also need the International Maritime Organization [a UN agency] to decide on the best energy to power our ships in the future. New fuels are twice as expensive as current fuels, and require heavy investment in research and development (R&D). Today, we're investing in LNG and methanol; tomorrow in hydrogen and ammonia. I'd like to strengthen our collaboration with producers: We're ready to commit to volumes. Artificial intelligence (AI), for its part, will enable us to better analyze data for the benefit of our customers and optimize our maneuvers to limit their footprint.
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