French carrier CMA CGM has decided that three of its services will not use the Suez Canal for now, keeping them on the longer route around Africa despite easing security tensions in the Red Sea. Last week, rival Maersk chose instead to resume its normal traffic on its Red Sea–Bab el-Mandeb route.
Investors reacted differently to the two carriers’ moves. After Maersk signalled a return to the Red Sea corridor, its B shares fell 5.3% on Thursday. In contrast, Tuesday’s news about CMA CGM’s stance coincided with a 3.0% rise in Maersk’s B shares to DKK 15,130, or about $2,375.
According to a statement reported on Tuesday by Reuters, CMA CGM will divert ships on three services away from Suez because of continued global uncertainty. Reuters noted that the move effectively scales back earlier plans to increase the company’s reliance on the canal after nearly two years of instability linked to attacks on merchant vessels.
Container lines had hoped to restore regular use of the Asia–Europe corridor through the Red Sea after they were forced in late 2023 to reroute vessels around Africa. The detours followed a series of attacks in the Red Sea carried out by Yemen’s Houthi movement, which said it was acting in response to the conflict in Gaza and the conditions facing Palestinians.
A truce in Gaza, followed by a decline in reported Houthi attacks, had raised expectations that traffic through the region would normalise. Because the Red Sea–Suez route shortens the distance between Asia and Europe, wider use of this passage increases effective fleet capacity and adds downward pressure on freight rates.
