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CMA-CGM to take stake in Brittany Ferries
[ September 14, 2021 // Chris ]Container shipping line CMA CGM is to make a €25 million investment in Brittany Ferries, including €10 million in quasi-equity to support the ferry operator’s post-Covid-19 recovery. A representative of the CMA CGM Group will join Brittany Ferries’ supervisory board.
A commercial partnership between the two companies will allow CMA CGM to use cargo space on board Brittany Ferries’ services to the UK, Ireland and the Iberian Peninsula and expand the CMA CGM Group’s offering in the ro ro sector for the Atlantic and northern coast of France to destinations in the UK. Through this agreement, both groups will be able to introduce new ro ro services, they said.
The partnership would also pave the way for Brittany Ferries to gain more expertise in freight and logistics and help it adapt more easily to the post-Covid-19 trends in freight transport, including unaccompanied trailers.
Both operators are committed to developing liquefied natural gas (LNG) to power their ships, and would look at ways of sharing their knowledge and resources in areas such as training for French crews and safety procedures.
Two new LNG-powered ships are due to join Brittany Ferries’ fleet next year and in 2023. The new ro-pax vessels, to be named Salamanca and Santoña, will operate services between the UK and Spain. Brittany Ferries is also about to introduce a new rail freight service and by the end of 2022 the company will offer its customers an unaccompanied trailer transport service between Bayonne and Cherbourg.
Tags: CMA-CGM; Brittany Ferries