CMA CGM, PSA team up on digital solutions to cut CO2 footprint

French shipping giant CMA CGM Group and PSA Corporation (PSA), a subsidiary of PSA International, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to create and implement digital solutions relating to CMA CGM’s port and terminal handling activities in Singapore.

According to the MoU, the companies will work through their joint venture partnership CMA CGM-PSA Lion Terminal (CPLT). CMA CGM plans to adopt PSA’s Opt-E-Arrive digital solution to reduce carbon emission through optimization of bunker consumption.

Specifically, Opt-E-Arrive is programmed to enable vessels to skip the anchorage stop and arrive just-in-time at berth at CPLT. The solution synchronizes transparent real-time activities and automates data exchange between the systems of the carrier and port operator.

The dynamic intelligence is expected to enable CMA CGM’s vessels to optimize vessel speed to be timely for the berth.

This solution, set to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through further optimization of bunker consumption, will be complementary to CMA CGM’s existing Fleet Centers. The company describes them as “vessel control towers with smart decision support tools for the Group’s 566 vessels and their crews”.

The partners believe that annualized bunker savings of 4 per cent to 7 per cent for CMA CGM’s vessels arriving in Singapore could be achieved with this new solution.

“PSA aims to create an Internet of Logistics through building a connected system of nodes and platforms … We are delighted to embark on this collaboration with our steadfast partner CMA CGM through various initiatives to enhance service,” Ong Kim Pong, Regional CEO Southeast Asia, PSA International, commented.

“As we advance in our energy transition to be a net zero carbon company by 2050, we shall continue to pursue energy efficiency; optimise network; design containerships to progressively operate with zero-carbon energy; and develop a supply chain for new zero carbon energies,” Laurent Olmeta, Chief Executive Officer of CMA CGM Asia Pacific added.

In February this year, CMA CGM launched biofuel bunkering at CPLT as part of its global trial to scale-up the wider adoption of clean energy. The company’s 10,640-TEU vessel, APL Paris, was the first of the group’s vessels on trial to be bunkered with biofuel in Singapore on 23 February 2022.

Recently, the French company revealed it joined the Jupiter 1000 power-to-gas industrial pilot to make a step forward in its zero-emission goals.