CMA CGM
Compagnie maritime d'affrètement - Compagnie générale maritime, commonly known as CMA CGM is a French shipping and logistics company founded in 1978 by Jacques Saadé. The name is an acronym derived from its two predecessor companies, Compagnie Maritime d'Affrètement and Compagnie Générale Maritime, which translate to "Maritime Freighting Company" and "General Maritime Company", respectively.
Headquartered at the CMA CGM Tower in Marseille, France, the group is the shipping companies|third-largest container shipping company] in the world. For the 2024 fiscal year, the company reported an annual revenue of US$55.48 billion.
CMA CGM operations include shipping, port operation, supply chain management, and warehousing. The company has a presence in 160 countries with 400 offices, 750 warehouses, 155,000 employees, and a fleet of 593 vessels. CMA CGM serves 420 of the world's 521 commercial ports and operates 257 shipping lines.
History
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 in 1851 and Compagnie Générale Maritime 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", 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 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.Compagnie Générale Maritime operated as such from 1974 to 1996 when it was privatized by the French state under President 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 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 for Compagnie Générale Transatlantique and Eastern trade lanes for Messageries Maritimes. After the merger and re-structure, CGM's liner services were managed in four distinct Trade Divisions, North America & Far East which also managed the bulk and tanker fleets, South America & Caribbean, Pacific & Indian Ocean and Short Sea Trades.
Separately, 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 to form CMA CGM.
In 1998 the combined company purchased Australian National Line.
In September 2005, CMA CGM acquired its French rival Delmas based in Le Havre 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 Maersk and the Swiss Mediterranean Shipping Company
In May 2007, a consortium represented by CMA CGM completed its acquisition of Compagnie Marocaine de Navigation for a sum of €200 million.
In July 2007, CMA CGM acquired Cheng Lie Navigation Corp., Intra-Asia container line based in Taiwan.
In 2009, CMA CGM acquired the Port of Latakia in Syria under a consortium comprising CMA CGM/Terminal Link and Souria Holding, a Syrian limited liability company.
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 firm 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 and its container line APL 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. With this acquisition, the CMA CGM Group becomes 110,000 people strong with more than $30.3 billion in revenue. CEVA operational center is transferred in Marseille, France, where is located the Head Office of the CMA CGM Group.
In September 2019, the world's first LNG-powered container ship is launched.
In March 2020, Rodolphe Saadé announced that CMA CGM was offering 200,000 FFP2 protective masks to France Health Agency to fight against the COVID-19 virus.
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. 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 to develop their air cargo capacities together. However, this partnership, implemented in April 2023, was terminated by mutual agreement in January 2024 without change in the 9% stake acquired by CMA CGM in the Franco-Dutch airline group.
In January 2024, CMA CGM made a takeover offer for Wincanton plc. In March 2024 CMA CGM withdrew the offer.
In January 2026, CMA CGM agreed to form a $10 billion joint venture with Stonepeak called United Ports. Upon completion, CMA CGM will own 75% of the venture and will seek to accelerate investments bade in US based ports.
Ownership
CMA CGM is 73% owned by Rodolphe Saadé and his family through Merit France SAS. The Turkish family-owned company Yildirim Holding has a 24% stake and French public sector investment bank Bpifrance has a 3% holding.Subsidiaries
Maritime activities
- Australian National Line
- Compagnie Marocaine de Navigation
- Cheng Lie Navigation Corp.
- Mercosul Line
- Containerships
- American President Lines (APL)
Terminal activities
- CMA Terminals Holding
- Terminal Link - container terminals developer and operator, ranked N°12 worldwide
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| Abidjan |  Ivory CoastIntermodal activities and logistics
Support activities
Air services
CMA MédiaTransportation of PassengersJoint ventures
FleetIn 2023, CMA CGM's fleet included:
Some emblematic group's vessels are:
SponsoringSince 2022, CMA CGM is the main sponsor of Olympique Marseille, the major football club of the city where the company is headquartered.In July 2025, CMA CGM became the co-title sponsor of the Decathlon cycling team. The team will compete as Decathlon–CMA CGM from 1 January 2026. Accidents and incidentsOn 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.
''CMA CGM Centaurus''On 4 May 2017, the container ship CMA CGM Centaurus made heavy contact with the quay and two shore cranes while under pilotage during its arrival at Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates. 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, US, from Xiamen, China, when it experienced heavy waves in the North Pacific Ocean. 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. All the crew from Yusheng366 were rescued as they abandoned ship before she sank, while CMA CGM Norma suffered minor damages.''CMA CGM Rabelais''On 6 April 2022, a fire broke out in a container on the ship's deck on the 6,552 TEU CMA CGM Rabelais. The vessel was en route to Nhava Sheva, India, after departing Singapore and was navigating the Malacca Straits, some 100 km north-west of Port Klang, when the fire was discovered at about noon, local time.A spokesperson for vessel owner Danaos Corporation, said the master had “immediately implemented firefighting protocols” and emphasised that "the fire is still burning, but it is under control.” One crew member was injured during the firefighting operations, when he slipped and fell, breaking some ribs. ''APL Vanda''On 3 July 2022, the Singaporean-flagged container ship APL Vanda was on-route between Singapore and Suez as part of CMA CGM's Asia - North-Europe Fal 3 service, when it lost 55 loaded containers in the Indian Ocean whilst the vessel was facing heavy weather, just before entry to the Gulf of Aden according to CMA CGM. No injury was reported and all crew members were safe.The ship, which left Singapore on June 26, stopped on July 9 in Djibouti "to clear some damaged containers on deck before safely continuing its voyage." ''CMA CGM Symi''On 25 November 2023, US defense officials reported that the ship was targeted in a suspected Iranian drone attack while in the Indian Ocean, en route from Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates to Port Klang, Malaysia. The ship has an Israeli owner and the incident happened a short time before the 2023 Gaza war ceasefire. |