Shipping History - CMA CGM Founder Jacques Saade Dies at 81

Jacques Saade, who founded France’s CMA CGM 40 years ago as a one-vessel firm and built it into a global container shipping giant, has died aged 81, the company said on Monday.

Saade, a major figure in French business circles, set up the Compagnie Maritime d’Affretement (CMA) in 1978 in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, after leaving Lebanon during the civil war in that country.

Starting with just one ship operating between Marseille and Beirut, Saade used a series of acquisitions in the following decades to transform the family firm into the world’s third-largest container line behind Maersk and Swiss-based MSC.

Container shipping lines dominate global freight volumes.

China was central to the group’s expansion. Saade opened the company’s first Chinese office in Shanghai in 1992, and a quarter of a century later the group says one of its ships leaves China every three hours.

On an official visit to China, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe paid tribute to Saade, describing him in a Twitter post as a “visionary entrepreneur” and “one of the first to anticipate the immense potential” of China.

On Saturday Philippe visited one of CMA CGM’s giant container ships, accompanied by Saade’s son Rodolphe, who took over as chief executive last year.

Saade’s daughter Tanya is also an executive and board member at the firm.

Kind Regards

Tomi.