French president inaugurates CMA CGM box ship

   On the 35th anniversary of of CMA CGM’s founding by Jacques Saadé, French President François Hollande officially inaugurated the shipping line’s latest 16,000-TEU vessel, the Jules Verne, in Marseille.
   Named after the famous French author of the 1800s, the French-flagged Jules Verne is deployed on the weekly FAL 1 (French Asia Line) route between Asia and North Europe. It is the third 16,000-TEU vessel, after the Marco Polo and Alexander Von Humboldt, deployed by the world’s third-largest liner carrier.
   The Jules Verne has already called at Busan, Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen, Hong Kong, Chiwan, Yantian, Port Kelang, Suez and Malta. It will continue her rotation to the ports of Tangier, Southampton, Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Le Havre, Malta, Suez, Khor Al Fakkan, Jebel Ali and Port Kelang before finishing her journey in Ningbo. – Eric Kulish