At the start of the year, Bolloré Logistics organised the door-to-door transport of a satellite and its various components from the customer’s site in Toulouse to the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou. Weighing 42 tonnes in total, the load was transported over nearly 7,000 km during a 3-week period.
This exceptional operation was carried out aboard the first wind-powered cargo ship, on its very first transatlantic crossing. The operation was a success thanks to the full involvement of all internal and external stakeholders. Several dozen people were mobilised throughout the project, including lorry drivers, motorcycle escorts and dockworkers, together with the crew of the ship and the teams at the Guiana Space Centre, who took over to accommodate the ship at the end of its journey.
Bolloré Logistics is also delighted to be the first shipper to transport cargo on the first sail-powered cargo ship. This next-generation cargo ship was designed to meet the specific needs of rocket and satellite transport: it offers minimal vibration conditions thus limiting the impact of any shocks and vibrations that might affect components during long-distance transport. Depending on its speed, a wind-powered vessel can cut carbon emissions by 20% to 30% compared to an equivalent ship with conventional propulsion.
“Wind-powered propulsion is a solution for the future that we are exploring with great interest. It has the advantage of meeting all the technical constraints imposed by the space industry, while offering a decarbonised transport plan over a distance of several thousand kilometres. The data collected and the feedback received from this initial transport have fully confirmed our prior analysis and our desire to continue our collaboration for future projects,” said Rédouane Akchouch, Sales Director Europe for Aerospace and Defence at Bolloré Logistics.
Being aware of the environmental impact of its activities, Bolloré Logistics developed a CSR programme entitled “Powering Sustainable Logistics” in 2018. The company aims to support the environment by reducing its carbon footprint and offering its customers more sustainable solutions. In particular, it has committed to reducing scope 3 CO2 emissions from its transport services by 30% by 2030 (baseline 2019).
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