CMA CGM is taking a stake in compatriot company Brittany Ferries to help the shortsea operator recover from its loss of passenger traffic during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The French container giant said it will make a €25m ($30m) investment in Brittany Ferries, the largest ferry company operating under the French flag, that includes €10m ($12m) in quasi-equity. A representative of CMA CGM will join the ferry firm’s supervisory board.
The agreement also establishes a commercial partnership that will allow CMA CGM to use available cargo space on board Brittany Ferries’ services to the UK, Ireland and the Iberian Peninsula. Both groups said they will introduce new ro-ro services.
These moves could help CMA CGM deal with current port congestion problems in Europe and the UK, and the deal will also pave the way for Brittany Ferries to gain expertise in freight and logistics.
“It will help the company to adapt more easily to the post-Covid-19 trends in goods transportation, including the transport of unaccompanied trailers, and to offer new transport services,” the companies said in a statement.
CMA CGM added that it “is seeking to support Brittany Ferries’ post-Covid-19 recovery” while looking to unlock synergies between the two companies in passenger and freight transport.
“By harnessing the respective areas of expertise of the CMA CGM Group and Brittany Ferries, it will also help promote the development of cross-Channel shipping and underpin France’s position in the sector,” they said.
CMA CGM and Brittany Ferries added that they will be looking at ways of sharing their LNG fuelling knowledge and resources in areas, including 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 ropax vessels, to be named Salamanca and Santona, will operate between the UK and Spain.
Brittany Ferries is also about to introduce a new rail freight service to expand its multimodal links. By the end of 2022, it will offer an unaccompanied trailer transport service on the Atlantic coast rail network between Bayonne and Cherbourg.
