World’s first 23k TEU LNG container vessel Jacques Saade joins CMA CGM
The CMA CGM Jacques Saade has joined the group’s fleet becoming the largest LNG-powered container ship in the world.
September 26, 2020: The CMA CGM Jacques Saade has joined the group’s fleet becoming the largest LNG-powered container ship in the world. CMA CGM has made the symbolic choice of naming its new flagship after its founder, Jacques Saade.
The joining of the Jacques Saade was marked by a first-of-its-kind digital naming ceremony. Jacques Saade's maiden voyage was on September 23 on the French Asia Line. Its rotation will lead it to the ports of Pusan in South Korea; Tianjin, Ningbo, Shanghai and Yantian, China; Singapore; Southampton, Dunkirk, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Algeciras in Europe; and Port Kelang in Malaysia. This line provides a weekly service comprising 13 calls over the course of 84 days.
On the occasion of the CMA CGM Jacques Saade coming into service, Rodolphe Saade, chairman and chief executive officer, declared, “The CMA CGM Jacques Saade embodies our commitment to the planet. This vessel has been enhanced with the latest technologies and is the result of 7 years of research and development. While guaranteeing the safety of our crew, it preserves air quality and will be part of our fight against global warming. It significantly improves the environmental footprint of carried goods. We have taken a big step forward. We need to go further to build transport that is even more respectful of the environment.”
In November of 2017, Rodolphe Saade, CMA CGM Group’s chairman and chief executive officer, decided to equip this series of container ships with LNG-powered engines – a first in the history of shipping for Ultra Large Container Vessels. This technology is one of the first step towards achieving CMA CGM Group’s ambitious 2050 objective of carbon neutrality.
Jacques Saade, along with its eight 23,000 TEU sister ships (twenty-foot equivalent unit) will be registered at the French International Register (FIR). They will bear the names of landmark Parisian monuments and other renowned venues and institutions from throughout the French capital (Champs Elysees, Palais Royal, Louvre, Rivoli, Montmartre, Concorde, Trocadero, and Sorbonne). CMA CGM has chosen Total as part of a major industrial partnership to supply them with gas.