The acquisition of these boats which moor at the foot of the CMA CGM tower in Marseille would mark a return of the shipowner to the maritime transport of passengers, since the sale of the luxury cruise line Ponant in 2015.

La Méridionale and its four ships ensure the links between Marseille and the Corsican ports, with passengers and freight.

At the end of 2022, it obtained with Corsica Linea the renewal of its public service delegation on these routes, until 2029.

The company with blue and white boats, founded in 1931, also provides six weekly crossings to Morocco.

"The finalization of this operation is subject to the signing of the securities transfer agreements, after information and consultation with the employee representative bodies, and authorizations from the various competition authorities", indicates CMA CGM in a press release.

The company La Méridionale, which employs around 600 people including 490 seafarers, is in deficit of around 86 million euros.

The acquisition project "will allow (...) the recovery of the Company and the preservation of the employment of French seafarers", argued CMA CGM, as well as "to invest in the fleet of ships and in the transition energy of the company".

The news was generally welcomed by the unions.

"What reassures us is the fact that it is a real shipowner and not an investment fund that wants to buy La Méridionale, not to mention the good financial health of CMA CGM," Marc told AFP. -Aurèle Orsoni, delegate of the majority union STC (Corsican Workers' Union).

"It's reassuring when you read their press release. The fact that they say they want to develop the jobs of French sailors at La Méridionale and develop the company can only be reassuring", he added, while saying to remain vigilant. .

"The CMA CGM does not have the reputation of having French sailors under the same conditions as those at La Méridionale today", he explains, specifying that the current owner, the carrier Stef, had " not responded favorably" to their requests for commitments on the social aspect.

"I don't see what better could happen to us than it being a shipowner like CMA CGM who wants to buy us out," adds CGT union representative Richard Kopp.

© 2023 AFP