CMA CGM: Four ships currently under construction will be French-flagged

The French ocean carrier’s future flagship, which is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2018, is being named after Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, a French writer, pilot, poet and journalist.    French container carrier CMA CGM said Nov. 21 that it’s future flagship, a 20,600-TEU container vessel, will be named CMA CGM Antoine de Saint Exupery, and will sail under the French flag. 
   Additionally, three future 22,000-TEU ships that are being built as liquefied natural gas-powered vessels, will also be French flagged, the company said.
   CMA CGM Group CEO Rodolphe Saadé, made the two announcements during a speech at the Ecole Nationale Supérieur Maritime (ENSM).
   The flagship, which is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2018, is being named after Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, a French writer, poet and journalist who was also a commercial pilot and worked delivering airmail before disappearing during World War II while on a reconnaissance mission for the French Air Force.
   CMA CGM said in a statement that naming its future flagship after Saint-Exupéry was its ways of paying homage to the pioneering writer and poet.
   “Antoine de Saint Exupéry, whose work is known on the five continents, is also one of the strong symbols of France,” CMA CGM said. “Thanks to its presence in more than 160 countries, the CMA CGM group contributes daily to the influence of France, promoting its know-how and dynamism.”
   The company also said that by announcing that three of the future LNG-powered vessels will fly the French flag, that CMA CGM “confirms its position as a major player” in the French maritime industry.
   With these four additional ships, the company will have 27 vessels flying the French flag by 2020, CMA CGM said.