CMA CGM America’s Ed Aldridge to retire

Ed Aldridge, president of CMA CGM America and American President Lines LLC, will retire on Dec. 6, and Peter Levesque, who was previously Ports America Group’s president, will take over those roles, the French container ship company announced Wednesday.

Aldridge took over as president of CMA CGM America in 2020 and has been responsible for U.S. operations, including 22,000 employees. Of those employees, 880 are Virginia-based. He has also served as president of CMA CGM’s California-based APL North America since 2017 and began his career with SeaLand Service. Aldridge has been with CMA CGM Group for 14 years.

“I truly appreciate the opportunities I have had with the CMA CGM Group and the outstanding results we have all achieved together,” Aldridge said in a statement. “The future is bright for the group in the United States, and I am honored to have been part of the company’s progression.”

Levesque, who will lead after Aldridge’s departure, has more than 30 years of industry leadership experience. Levesque became president of Ports America in February 2020 and served in that role until late last year. Last year, Ports America, the largest U.S. terminal operator and stevedore, was sold to Canada Pension Plan Investments as part of an acquisition of an interest managed by Oaktree Capital Management LP. The acquisition was valued at $4 billion.

Levesque will be based in Norfolk.

Before joining Ports America, Levesque spent 25 years based in Hong Kong and held leadership positions in international transportation, logistics and supply chain companies. He was has held leadership roles with Modern Terminals Ltd., CEVA Logistics and DHL, among other companies.

“This is an exciting time for the CMA CGM Group here in North America, and I look forward to continuing the momentum generated by Ed Aldridge and his team over the last 14 years,” Levesque said. “We will continue to work closely with our associates, vendors and customers to achieve CMA CGM’s goal of becoming the industry’s number-one carrier and employer of choice.”

CMA CGM Group is the world’s third-largest container ship company. Its North American headquarters are in Norfolk, and in February 2021 the company announced it would expand in Norfolk, creating 400 jobs and investing $36 million. The company has presences in 160 countries and has more than 400 offices, 750 warehouses and 150,000 employees worldwide. In 2021, the company transported 22 million TEU containers.