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CMA CGM Jacques Saadé

CMA CGM · Container · In service · built by Hudong-Zhonghua

CMA CGM Jacques Saadé proved a 400-metre container ship could run on liquefied natural gas — the vessel was literally built around its tank.

Length overall399.9 m

Beam61.3 m

Gross tonnage236,583 GT

Speed22 kn

Delivered2020

Draft16 m

Our numbers

Derived metrics

Computed by ships.fyi from the core specification — see how we calculate these.

TEU per metre#6 of 13

57.8 TEU/m nominal TEU ÷ length overall

Length-to-beam ratio#35 of 45

6.52 length overall ÷ beam

Sense of scale

How big is it, really?

The CMA CGM Jacques Saadé's length overall, against things you already know the size of.

CMA CGM Jacques Saadé399.9 m

Eiffel Tower (height)330 m

Titanic269.06 m

Football pitch105 m

Boeing 747-876.3 m

Blue whale25 m

You (probably)1.75 m

The 747-8 bar is the longest airliner ever built — our sibling site aircraft.fyi measures everything that flies the same way.

One CMA CGM Jacques Saadé = 1.49 Titanics · 3.8 football pitches · 16 blue whales · 5.2 Boeing 747-8s laid end to end.

#13 of 45 by length → #7 by gross tonnage → Run the Canal-Fit Checker →

Specification

The numbers

Length overall	399.9 m
Beam	61.3 m
Capacity	23,112 TEU
Gross tonnage	236,583 GT
Deadweight	≈220,000 t
LNG fuel tank	18,600 m³ membrane tank
Delivered	22 September 2020
Flag	France (RIF, Marseille)

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Last verified: 2026-07-15 · Spot an error? business@luck.fyi

The story

What makes it different

CMA CGM Jacques Saadé answered the question AIDAnova had answered for cruise ships two years earlier, at four times the scale: can the largest class of merchant ship run on gas? Delivered in September 2020 by Hudong-Zhonghua in Shanghai, she was the first ultra-large container ship powered by LNG, with dual-fuel engines that were the largest gas-burning marine diesels ever built.

The defining engineering decision sits amidships: a single 18,600 cubic metre membrane fuel tank, designed by France's GTT and cooled to minus 161 degrees Celsius, big enough for an Asia–Europe round trip on one fill. As CMA CGM put it, the ship was built around the tank.

Named for the group's late founder and registered in Marseille — the largest ship ever to fly the French flag — she set a record on her maiden voyage by departing Singapore with 20,723 laden containers, then broke it herself the following spring at 21,433. Nine Paris-landmark-named sisters followed.

The class

The Jacques Saadé line

Jacques Saadé class

Nine LNG-powered sisters built by CSSC's Hudong-Zhonghua and Jiangnan yards, delivered 2020–22 and named for Paris landmarks — the largest ships ever registered in France.

Operators

Who operates the Jacques Saadé

All 1 operator of record, verified 2026-07-15. Figures marked ≈ are approximate.

CMACMA CGMGroup flagship, named for the founder; French Asia Line rotation between Asia and Northern Europe.1✓→

Quick answers

Jacques Saadé, asked and answered

How long is the CMA CGM Jacques Saadé?

399.9 m (1,312 ft) length overall — the #13 longest of the 45 ships on ships.fyi, and 3.8 football pitches end to end.

How big is the CMA CGM Jacques Saadé compared to the Titanic?

The CMA CGM Jacques Saadé is 1.49× the Titanic's length — 399.9 m against her 269.06 m. By volume the gap is starker still: 236,583 GT against Titanic's 46,328 GRT — roughly 5.1 times the tonnage, measured across two different rule eras.

Who operates the CMA CGM Jacques Saadé?

CMA CGM. Current status: in service.

Does the CMA CGM Jacques Saadé fit through the Panama Canal?

No. At 399.9 m long, 61.3 m wide and 16 m of draft, the CMA CGM Jacques Saadé exceeds even the Neopanamax gauge (366 × 51.25 × 15.2 m) — run any gauge on the Canal-Fit Checker.

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