Saadé established the Compagnie Maritime d’Affretement (CMA) in September 1978, 40 years ago, after leaving Lebanon following the civil war in the country.
The company started off with 4 employees, a single ship and only one maritime service between Marseilles and Beirut.
In 1983, he sent his first ships beyond the Mediterranean and had them cross the Suez Canal. In 1986, Saadé launched a service linking North Europe to Asia, and later in 1992 he opened CMA’s first office in Shanghai.
Saadé dedicated his life to CMA CGM and made the group into a world leader in the maritime transport of containers, developing the company in more than 160 countries.
The company became the third largest container shipping firm in the world in 2006.
In early 2017, CMA CGM informed that Rodolphe Saadé would succeed his father in the position of Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group. He was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors in November the same year.
法國航運CMA CGM的創始人Jacques R.Saadé於2018年6月24日逝世，享年81歲。
Saadé於40年前於1978年9月在該國內戰結束後離開黎巴嫩後成立了海事委員會（CMA）。
該公司從馬塞爾和貝魯特之間的4名員工，從一艘船和一項海運服務開始。
1983年，他將他的第一組船運到地中海以外，並讓他們穿過蘇伊士運河。1986年，Saadé推出了一項將北歐與亞洲連接起來的服務，後來在1992年他開設了CMA在上海的第一個辦事處。
Saadé致力於CMA CGM，使集團成為集裝箱海運領域的全球領導者，在160多個國家開展業務。
2006年，該公司成為全球第三大集裝箱航運公司。
2017年初，CMA CGM通知RodolpheSaadé將接替他父親擔任CMA CGM集團首席執行官。他於同年11月被任命為董事會主席。
