Cargo owners wishing to commit to low-carbon maritime transport

Written on 28 March 2022.

The Shippers' Association, newly created by France Supply Chain and the Association of Freight Transport Users (AUTF), launched in early February 2022 a call for tender aiming to deploy solutions for the transport of cargo ships with velvet propulsion as early as 2024. The aim is to accelerate the decarbonisation of maritime transport on a global scale, for a more sustainable future.

Faced with ongoing environmental challenges, companies are devising solutions to enable logistics with a lower environmental impact. However, the decarbonisation of maritime transport remains a complex issue.

Although innovative solutions, such as biofuels, can currently be deployed, they cannot be the only answer to the energy sobriety that we absolutely need at global level. Yet maritime transport is a vital part of the functioning of our economy, which is more than ever based on international trade.

With this in mind, France Supply Chain and the Association des Utilisateurs de Transport de Fret (AUTF), are mobilising to take their approach towards low-carbon maritime transport a step further and have created theAssociation des Chargeurs pour un Transport Maritime Décarboné. The aim of this Association is to federate shippers in order to deploy innovative low-carbon solutions on an industrial scale.

An initial call for tenders was launched by the Association at the beginning of February 2022 for two weekly transatlantic links between Europe and North America, to be operated from 2024 onwards by container ships propelled mainly by wind power. The ambition is to reduce CO2 emissions by at least half compared to conventional transport.

Groupe Avril, Bontaz, Coty, Gerflor, Groupe L'Occitane, Groupe Rocher, La Fournée Dorée, Massilly, Michelin, Moët Hennessy, Nestlé WaterS, Remy Cointreau have confirmed their willingness to transport part of their containers by this innovative means of transport, in order to reduce the environmental impact of their logistics.

These shippers call for the mobilisation of international shippers who are at the heart of the virtuous circle of this transition, so that they join the coalition and become actors of a responsible maritime fleet.

At a time when the world must reinvent itself in the face of major environmental challenges, the Supply Chain, the true nervous system of the economy, once again bears witness to the fact that it is one of the keys to sustainable renewal.

About France Supply Chain

In an increasingly complex world, making the Supply Chain a lever for a more sustainable world is an essential challenge for all companies. This is why France Supply Chain brings relevant solutions to all Supply Chain actors, thanks to its network of 450 affiliated companies and an approach based on collective intelligence.

About the Association of Freight Transport Users (AUTF)

AUTF is a professional association of shippers, representing industrial and commercial companies in their role as transport contractors. Multi-sectoral and resolutely multimodal, AUTF's action is part of a global approach to improving the economic and environmental performance of transport chains in order to improve the competitiveness of companies and the attractiveness of the territory.