One of the more interesting aspects of a marine pilot’s role is meeting and working closely with Captains from all around the world.
Fremantle Pilot, Captain Brad Benbow, recently piloted the container vessel CMA CGM Baalbeck into the Inner Harbour. Launched in February 2025, the CMA CGM Baalbeck is one of the most advanced container ships in the world and is the first LNG powered container vessel to visit Australia. The CMA CGM Group is investing USD 20 billion over the next 5 years ordering 153 ships capable of running on lower carbon fuels such as LNG and methanol. These fuels are a significant improvement on the traditional heavy fuel oil powered merchant vessels which account for 3% of global emissions.
The design of the CMA CGM Baalbeck is slightly unusual for container ships visiting Fremantle, as the bridge is located forward of midships as opposed to the traditional vessel where the bridge is one third of the distance from the stern. This changes the perspective of the bridge team, particularly when the vessel is being turned 180 degrees in the Inner Harbour. Fremantle Pilots have undertaken additional training on a simulator to help familiarise with this move.
The ship’s Master, Captain Jean-baptiste Lefebvre is a French national from Le Harve who has recently moved to the UK with his wife and 4 children. Captain Lefebvre has led a slightly unusual career path. On leaving school, he embarked on a career as a software engineer before deciding to join the French merchant marine college at the age of 29 looking ‘for a kind of freedom and open mind to the world’. He has worked on French seismic, cable layer and repair vessels, mainly throughout Southeast Asia, before joining CMA CGM and being promoted to Captain in 2021.
After deciding to embark on a seagoing career, Capt Lefebvre discovered he had a family history of marine pilots in his home town of Le Harve. None of his children are keen to follow in his footsteps going to sea as they see the negative impact on family life with long periods away. This is the biggest negative aspect of his choice of career, however he still enjoys the challenges of being captain of a sophisticated 272 metre ship capable of carrying over 8000 containers. His background as a software engineer has certainly come in handy with the incredible array of high tech equipment on the ships bridge – which looks more like the bridge of a space ship from a sci-fi movie!
The ship will be a regular visitor to Fremantle as it has joined CMA CGM’s Asia Australia Express service. Welcome to fremantle Capt Lefebvre and the crew of the CMA CGM Baalbeck!
