Seatrade Maritime: CMA CGM reverts services to Cape of Good Hope

French container line CMA CGM has announced that three of its Ocean Alliance services will once again operate via the Cape of Good Hope rather than taking the shorter Suez Canal route.

The FAL 1, FAL 3 and MEX services will go back to the longer routing as a result of CMA CGM’s constant monitoring of potential impacts on its services “in light of the complex and uncertain international context,” it said.

CMA CGM had been leading container lines’ return to Suez, a route largely abandoned since late 2023 after the Houthi began attacking merchant ships within striking range of Yemen.

The line said the situation would be reviewed regularly.

Security company Vanguard told Seatrade Maritime News there was no obvious single incident or security threat that would lead the line to abandon Suez again, but its approach looks like a deliberate trial-and-reassessment strategy.

CMA CGM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“[CMA CGM] began cautiously testing a return to the Red Sea and Suez Canal in late November–December 2025, conducting limited trial transits, including high-profile passages by large container vessels in late December 2025,” Vanguard said.

The Suez Canal Authority was courting container lines in November 2025, when CMA CGM took its first tentative steps back to the Red Sea. The line announced a return to Suez for its India-US East Coast service in December, the same month competitor Maersk made its first Suez Canal transit in almost two years.

“This was followed by a more formal step in mid-January 2026, when [CMA CGM] announced the planned resumption of selected regular services (notably the INDAMEX loop) via Suez from around 15 January 2026,” said Vanguard. Last week, Maersk announced a return to the Red Sea for its MECL service, saying the first east- and west-bound vessels were already en route.

“However, within days, [CMA CGM] scaled back this approach and diverted several services back via the Cape of Good Hope, citing ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and the fragile security environment.”

Just yesterday [January 19], Seatrade Maritime News reported that Maersk and Hapag-LLoyd’s Gemini Cooperation was set for an imminent return to Suez with an India-Middle East-Mediterranean service.

Sailing via the Cape of Good Hope soaks up around 2m teu of capacity in the container shipping market — a return to Suez would put downward pressure on freight rates as that capacity is unlocked. Along with US tariffs, the routing decision is one of the crucial influences on rates in the container market .

FAL1 connects Southampton, Gothenburg, Gdansk, Dunkerque and Le Havre to Tanger Med, Port Klang, Yantian, Shanghai, Ningbo, and Singapore.

FAL3 connects Hamburg, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Le Havre and Tanger Med to Singapore, Port Klang, Yantian, Shanghai and Ningbo.

The MEX services connect Mediterranean ports to Asia.