CMA CGM Founder Dies at 81

According to a Reuters report, Jacques Saade, founder of CMA CGM, the world's third largest container line has died on June 24th at the age of 81.

Saade moved from Lebanon to France in 1978 where he set up Compagnie Maritime d’Affrètement (CMA) with a single ship and one service between Marseilles and Beirut.

Being one of the first in the industry to foresee the potential in China’s growing global trade in the 1990s, Saade has always placed focus on innovative shipping solutions while also paying attention to environmental issues like climate change

In 1996 Saade acquired the newly-privatised Compagnie Générale Maritime (CGM) merging it with his own company to form the giant CMA CGM.

CMA CGM announced last year that Rodolphe Saade would succeed his father as its new chief executive.

Read more: CMA CGM Deploys Innovative Container Tracking Solution