French President Inaugurates CMA CGM’s New Mega Ship

The CMA CGM Bougainville, the largest containership sailing under French flag, was inaugurated Tuesday by French President François Hollande in Le Havre.

Other key figures present for the inauguration include Jacques R. Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CMA CGM Group; French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development Laurent Fabius; French Secretary of State for Transportation Alain Vidalies; Lebanese Minister of State Administrative Reform representing the Prime Minister Nabil de Freige; as well as many French parliamentarians and politicians, several chief executive officers and CMA CGM customers.

At 400 meters long and 54 meters wide, the enormous CMA CGM Bougainville adds 18,000 teu capacity on CMA CGM’s French Asia Line (FAL) between Europe and Asia, calling at Le Havre every 77 days.

CMA CGM Bougainville was delivered August 25 by Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries and has already begun her rotations.

At the inauguration ceremony, Hollande paid tribute to the success of CMA CGM and Jacques Saadé: “It’s a great success. A success for you, your family, your staff members. A success for France.”

He concluded his speech by saluting the group’s expansion benefiting French growth, “such ingenuity and work are strengths for France,” he said. “We must be one step ahead: you set an example, an example to follow.”

Saadé also highlighted the CMA CGM Group’s commitments as an employer, to toward the society and for the environment. He mentioned that CMA CGM knows a sustainable growth, reinforced by several pioneer projects around the world and with developments such as the Traxens technology transforming standard containers into smart, connected objects.