CMA CGM S.A. is a French
container
A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping.
Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...
transportation and shipping company. It is the world’s 3rd
largest container shipping company, using 257 shipping routes between 420 ports in 160 countries. Its headquarters are in
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
, France The name is an
acronym
An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...
of two predecessor companies, Compagnie Maritime d'Affrètement (CMA) and Compagnie Générale Maritime (CGM), which translate as "Maritime Freighting Company" and "General Maritime Company".
History
![CMA CGM container](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/CMA_CGM_container.JPG)
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
The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT, and commonly named "Transat"), typically known overseas as the French Line, was a French shipping company. Established in 1855 by the brothers Émile and Issac Péreire under the name ''Compagnie ...
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
Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, , ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981.
After serving as Minister of Finance under prime ...
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 government and still run as a competitive business, although sometimes subject to political pressure, for instance on the selection of shipyards to build new ships.
![CMA CGM shipping container](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/CMA_CGM_shipping_container.jpeg)
Compagnie Générale Maritime (CGM) operated as such from 1974 to 1996 when it was privatized by the French state under President Chirac and Prime Minister
Alain Juppé
Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans (France), The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced 1995 strikes ...
. 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
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...
, then in close by
Suresnes
Suresnes () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. Located in Hauts-de-Seine, from the centre of Paris, it had a population of 49,145 as of 2016. The nearest communes are Nanterre, Puteaux, Rueil-Malmaison, Saint-Cloud a ...
.
The CGM liner services, mostly containerized but also operating a significant fleet of "Con-Ro" vessels able to load
roll-on/roll-off
Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...
cargoes, were re-structured from the two parent companies' main trade lanes, i.e. Western trade lanes (Americas) for
Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT, and commonly named "Transat"), typically known overseas as the French Line, was a French shipping company. Established in 1855 by the brothers Émile and Issac Péreire under the name ''Compagnie ...
(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,
Jacques Saadé
Jacques R. Saadé ( ar, جاك سعادة; 7 February 1937 – 24 June 2018) was a French-Lebanese billionaire businessman. He was the founder and chairman of the CMA CGM, a French container transportation and shipping company, the fourth lar ...
had created CMA in 1978 as an intra-Mediterranean liner service operator, based in
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
. 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
Australian National Line (ANL) was a coastal shipping line established in by the Government of Australia in 1956. It was sold in 1998 by the Howard government to CMA CGM.
History
Australian National Line was formed on 1 October 1956 as the ...
(ANL).
![CMA CGM Balzac](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/CMA_CGM_Balzac.jpg)
In September 2005 CMA CGM acquired its French rival
Delmas based in
Le Havre
Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...
from the
Bolloré Group for €600 million. 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
(), also known simply as Maersk (), is a Danish shipping company, active in ocean and inland freight transportation and associated services, such as supply chain management and port operation. Maersk was the largest container shipping line ...
and the Swiss
Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A.
In May 2007, a consortium represented by CMA-CGM completed its acquisition of
Compagnie Maroccaine de Navigation (Comanav) for a sum of €200 million.
In July 2007, CMA-CGM acquired Cheng Lie Navigation Corp. (CNC Line), Intra-Asia container line based in Taiwan.
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 CSCL can refer to:
* Caesium chloride (CsCl), a chemical compound.
* Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, a research topic on supporting collaborative learning with the assistance of computer artifacts.
* China Shipping Container Lines, a c ...
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,
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, long and wide, was inaugurated in Port of Long Beach on February 19.
In July 2016 CMA CGM finalized its acquisition of Singapore-based
NOL Nol may refer to:
Surname
* Lon Nol (1913–1985), Cambodian politician and general who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia
* Koen van Nol (born 1974), Dutch judoka
Given name
* Nol Havens (born 1959), lead singer of band The Art Company
* ...
(Neptune Orient Lines) and its container line
APL (American President Lines) after an all-cash offer of US$2.4 billion. 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.
In June 2017, CMA CGM acquire Mercosul Line, a Brazilian shipping company specialized in multimodal door-to-door container transportation and logistics.
In October 2018, CMA CGM finalized the acquisition of Finland-based container-transportation and logistics company Containerships.
In April 2019, CMA CGM completed its public tender offer to acquire
CEVA Logistics
CEVA Logistics is a global logistics and supply chain company in both freight management and contract logistics with US$12 billion in revenues. Its head office is in Marseille, France, and it was founded in 2007, as a merger of TNT Logistics and ...
. With this acquisition, the CMA CGM Group becomes a global leader in transport and logistics, 110,000 people strong with more than $30,3 billion in revenue. CEVA operational center is transferred in
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
, France, where is located the Head Office of the CMA CGM Group.
In February 2021, CMA CGM Group completes its logistics offer by creating a new division dedicated to air freight:
CMA CGM Air Cargo. With its four
Airbus A330-200F cargo aircraft, this airfreight division links Europe to North America. The first flight from
Liège to Chicago marks the debut of commercial operations.
In September 2021, CMA CGM announced a partnership with fellow Breton-based operator
Brittany Ferries
Brittany Ferries is the trading name of the French shipping company, BAI Bretagne Angleterre Irlande S.A. founded in 1973 by Alexis Gourvennec, that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between France and the United Kingdom, Ireland, a ...
. The partnership involves a €25 million investment, plus a CMA CGM representative joining Brittany Ferries' supervisory board.
In May 2022, CMA CGM, signed a strategic partnership with
Air France–KLM Group to develop their air cargo capacities together. As part of the agreement CMA CGM may also acquire a stake of up to 9% in the Franco-Dutch airline group.
Subsidiaries
Maritime activities
*
Australian National Line
Australian National Line (ANL) was a coastal shipping line established in by the Government of Australia in 1956. It was sold in 1998 by the Howard government to CMA CGM.
History
Australian National Line was formed on 1 October 1956 as the ...
(ANL) (specializes in Australia, New Zealand, Oceania and Asia container transportation)
*
Compagnie Maroccaine de Navigation (Comanav) (passenger ferry and container services from Morocco to Europe)
* Cheng Lie Navigation Corp. (CNC Line) (specializes in Intra-Asia container transportation)
*Mercosul Line (specializes on the East Coast of South America container transportation)
* Containerships (specializes in Intra-European container transportation)
*
American President Lines (APL) (
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
-based container line)
Terminal activities
* Terminal Link - container terminals developer and operator, ranked N°12 worldwide
* CMA Terminals Holding
Intermodal activities and logistics
* Progeco (container: sales, leasing & repairing)
* CMA CGM Logistics
* Rail Link (multimodal rail-bound transport solutions)
* River Shuttle Containers (Rhône – Saône axis containerised river transportation)
Support activities
* CMA Ships (a wholly-owned subsidiary managing all fleet-related operations)
Air services
*
AIR CARGO SERVICES, active since February 2021, operates a total of 4
A330-200F. The operations of the aircraft are handled by
Air Belgium
Air Belgium S.A. is a Belgian scheduled and charter airline headquartered in Mont-Saint-Guibert and based at Brussels Airport.
History Foundation and early years
In the summer of 2016, the company was started with CEO Niky Terzakis, who worke ...
.
Joint ventures
*
CMA Systems
CMA CGM Corporate Foundation for Children
Established in 2005, the CMA CGM Corporate Foundation for Children seeks to improve the overall well-being of children around the world. It defined three targets:
* To improve the everyday lives of children who are physically and mentally ill;
* To promote equitable opportunities for children coming from underprivileged backgrounds; and
* To encourage the personal development of children with disabilities.
Fleet
![CMA_CGM_containers_on_train](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/CMA_CGM_containers_on_train.png)
In 2021, CMA CGM's fleet included:
* 566 vessels
* 4,500,000 container TEUs
* 600,000 reefer container TEUs
The fleet has 200 maritime services and calls at more than 420 ports in 160 countries. There are 521 commercial ports in the world at the moment.
Some emblematic group's vessels are:
* (16,020 TEUs) was christened in June 2013 by the French President François Hollande. At that time, this vessel sailing under the French flag was the world's biggest container ship.
* (16,020 TEUs)
* (16,020 TEUs)
* (18,000 TEUs)
* (18,000 TEUs)
* (18,000 TEUs)
* (18,000 TEUs)
* (18,000 TEUs)
* (18,000 TEUs)
* (20,800 TEUs); flagship and largest French-flagged container ship as of 2018
Air fleet
Accidents and incidents
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 implicated in various arms-shipping incidents.
* November 2009: South Africa seized arms traveling from North Korea by way of China. The seizure amounted to two containers filled with tank parts and other military equipment from North Korea, which included "gun sights, tracks and other spare parts for
T-54 and T-55 tanks and other war material valued at an estimated $750,000." The military equipment was concealed in containers lined with sacks of rice and shipping documents identified the cargo as spare parts for a "bulldozer". According to the report, the containers were originally loaded in
Dalian, China onto CMA CGM ''Musca'', a UK-flagged container ship. The shipment was reportedly destined for
Pointe-Noire in the
Republic of Congo.
* July 2009: The United Arab Emirates seized a shipment of weapons from North Korea destined for Iran. The shipment was made in violation of
UN Security Council Resolution 1874, which bans all North Korean Arms exports. The weapons, which included RPGs, detonators, ammunition, and rocket propellant, were shipped by a Bahamian-flagged vessel of ANL Australia, a wholly owned subsidiary of CMA CGM.
* October 2010: Nigerian authorities seized 13 shipping containers carrying illegal Iranian weaponry at Lagos'
Apapa Port. The containers included 107 mm artillery rockets (
Katyushas), explosives and rifle ammunition. The arms were to be shipped next to
The Gambia
The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...
, with the final destination of the cargo possibly the
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
. MV CMA CGM ''Everest'' originally picked up the containers from the Iranian port of
Bandar Abbas
Bandar Abbas or Bandar-e ‘Abbās ( fa, , , ), is a port city and capital of Hormozgān Province on the southern coast of Iran, on the Persian Gulf. The city occupies a strategic position on the narrow Strait of Hormuz (just across from Musand ...
. CMA CGM said it was the victim of a false cargo declaration, claiming the weapons were shipped in packages labeled as "glass wool and pallets of stone" and that the Iranian shipper "does not appear on any forbidden persons listing".
* March 2011: Israeli forces intercepted the vessel ''Victoria'' in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, stating that it was carrying weapons by Iran via Syria. According to Israeli officials, the arms shipments included "roughly 2,500 mortar shells, nearly 75,000 bullets and six
C-704
The C-704 is a Chinese anti-ship missile. The missile was developed by the third research institute of the Chinese Aerospace Group, also the manufacturer of the C-701.
Design
This anti-ship missile is designed specifically for targets with displa ...
anti-ship missiles". Israel said the ultimate destination of the cargo was for the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. CMA CGM, which chartered the vessel, stated, "The ship's manifests do not show any cargo in contravention
finternational regulations, and we do not have any more information at this stage."
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 for the country.
CMA CGM has also ceased exporting from Iranian ports since November 2011.
''CMA CGM Centaurus''
On 4 May 2017, the
container ship
A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermoda ...
''CMA CGM Centaurus'' made heavy contact with the quay and two shore cranes while under pilotage during its arrival at
Jebel Ali
Jebel Ali ( ar, جبل علي) is a port town south-west of Dubai. The Jebel Ali Port is located there. Al Maktoum International Airport has been constructed just outside the port area. Jebel Ali is connected to Dubai via the UAE Exchange (fo ...
,
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...
. The accident resulted in the collapse of a shore crane and 10 injuries to shore personnel.
''CMA CGM Washington''
On 20 January 2018, the container ship ''CMA CGM Washington'' was on-route to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
,
US, from
Xiamen
Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an ...
,
China, when it experienced heavy waves in the North
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
. The crew discovered that three bays, 54, 58 and 18, collapsed, which led to the loss of 137 containers and damage of another 85.
''CMA CGM Norma''
On 24 December 2018, the container ship ''CMA CGM Norma'' was involved in a collision with the China-flagged general
cargo ship ''Yusheng366'' in the waters south of
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
. All the crew from ''Yusheng366'' were rescued as they abandoned ship before she sank, while ''CMA CGM Norma'' suffered minor damages.
See also
*
List of largest container shipping companies
Several shipping lines are involved in intermodal freight transport as part of international trade.
List of largest container shipping companies
This is a list of the 30 largest container shipping companies as of 11 August 2022, according to '' ...
References
External links
CMA-CGM
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cma Cgm
Companies based in Marseille
French brands
Shipping companies of France
Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
Container shipping companies
Transport companies established in 1978
1978 establishments in France
1996 mergers and acquisitions