Type Société Anonyme Number of locations 650 offices/agencies CEO Jacques Saadé (2011–) Founder Jacques Saadé Parent organization Merit Corporation | Industry Containerization Area served Worldwide Founded 1978 | |
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Key people Jacques R. Saadé Group Chairman & Rodolphe Saadé CEO Subsidiaries American President Lines, Neptune Orient Lines Profiles | ||
CMA CGM S.A. is a French container transportation and shipping company, headed by Jacques Saadé. It is the third largest container company in the world, using 170 shipping routes between 400 ports in 150 different countries. Its headquarters are in Marseille, and its North American headquarters are in Norfolk, Virginia, USA.
Contents
The name is an acronym, which, spelled out, would translate as "Maritime Freighting Company - General Maritime Company".
History
Compagnie Générale Maritime (CGM) The history of CMA CGM can be traced back to the middle of the 19th Century, when two major French shipping lines were created, respectively Messageries Maritimes (MM) in 1851 and Compagnie Générale Maritime (CGM) in 1855, soon renamed Compagnie Générale Transatlantique in 1861. Both companies were created partly with the backing of the French State, through the award of mail contracts to various destinations, French colonies and overseas territories as well as foreign countries. After the two World Wars, the two companies became "State owned corporations of the competitive sector" ("Entreprise publique du secteur concurrentiel "), i.e. companies that, while owned by the State, were run as private for-profit businesses operating in competitive markets. The French government, under President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and Prime Minister Jacques Chirac, progressively merged the two companies between 1974 and 1977 to form Compagnie Générale Maritime, which was still owned by the French State and still run as a competitive business, although sometimes subject to political pressure, for instance on the selection of shipyards to build new ships.
Compagnie Générale Maritime (CGM) operated as such from 1974 to 1996 when it was privatized by the French State under President Jacques Chirac and prime Minister Alain Juppé. During these 22 years it operated freight and container liner services in various global trade lanes, as well as a fleet of dry bulk ships, and a few large oil tankers and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tankers, with headquarters located in Paris western suburbs, first in Paris-La Defense, then in close-by Suresnes.
The CGM liner services, mostly containerized but also operating a significant fleet of "Con-Ro" vessels able to load Roll-on/roll-off cargoes, were re-structured from the two parent companies' main trade lanes, i.e. Western trade lanes (Americas) for Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT) and Eastern trade lanes (Asia, East Africa, Pacific, plus Eastern South America for Messageries Maritimes (MM). After merger and re-structure, CGM's liner services were managed in four distinct Trade Divisions, North America & Far East ("AMNEO", for Amérique du Nord & Extrême Orient) which also managed the bulk and tanker fleets, South America & Caribbean ("AMLAT"), Pacific & Indian Ocean ("PACOI") and Short Sea Trades ("Cabotage").
Separately, Mr. Jacques Saadé had created CMA in 1978 as an intra-Mediterranean liner service operator, based in Marseille. In 1996, CGM was privatized and sold to Compagnie Maritime d'Affrètement (CMA) to form CMA CGM.
In 1998 the combined company purchased Australian National Lines (ANL).
CMA CGM acquired its French rival Delmas based in Le Havre from the Bolloré group in September 2005 for 600 million Euros. The acquisition was completed in early January 5, 2006. The resulting corporation became the third largest container company in the world behind the Danish A.P. Moller-Maersk Group and the Swiss Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A..
On April 4, 2008, pirates seized the CMA CGM luxury cruise ship "Le Ponant" off the coast of Somalia.
CMA CGM and its affiliates have been victimized in various arms-shipping incidents.
As a result of CMA CGM's involvement in Iranian weapons smuggling, US congressmen have called on CMA CGM to be investigated and urged the US Treasury Department to consider levying sanctions against the shipper. The company has since implemented tighter procedures for accepting shipments bound for Iran, including scanning all containers destined the country. CMA CGM also ceased exporting from Iran from November 2011.
In 2014, CMA CGM signs the OCEAN THREE agreements. The group strengthens its offer by signing major agreements on the biggest worldwide maritime trades with CSCL and UASC.
In April 2015, the group acquired a strategic stake in LCL Logistix, a logistics leader in India, via its subsidiary CMA CGM LOG.
In December 2015, the CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin called at the Port of Los Angeles and thus became the largest vessel ever to call the United-States. The container-ship, 1,300 ft. long and 177 ft. wide, was inaugurated in Port of Long Beach on February 19.
In July 2016 CMA CGM finalized its acquisition of Singapore-based NOL (Neptune Orient Lines) and its container line APL (American President Lines) after an all-cash offer of 2.4 billion USD. The takeover is CMA CGM's largest acquisition and the purchase added 12 percent market share to the CMA CGM group. The Singapore Exchange Securities Trading suspended trading of NOL shares at the end of the offer.
Subsidiaries
Other maritime activities
Terminal activities
Intermodal activities and logistics
Support activities
Joint Ventures
Fleet
In 2015, CMA CGM's fleet includes:
This fleet sails 170 maritime services and calls at 400 ports in 160 countries. There are 521 commercial ports in the world at the moment.
Some emblematic group's vessels are:
CMA CGM Corporate Foundation for Children
Created in 2005, the CMA CGM Corporate Foundation for Children's objective is to improve the well-being of children. It defined 3 different targets: