CMA CGM appears to be the first carrier among mainline heavyweights making a firm bid to return to the traditional — and significantly shorter — Suez Canal route that remains a tricky proposition for the industry despite recent reports of a de-escalation of hostilities in the Red Sea.
The Marseille-based carrier has finalized operational plans to shift vessels deployed on its India-Middle East-Mediterranean service, named the MEDEX, back to the normal sailing journey through the Suez beginning next month, new schedule data obtained by the Journal of Commerce from industry sources reveals.
The first vessel marking the routing change will be the CMA CGM Palleas, departing India’s Nhava Sheva Port on June 7 and transiting the Suez June 28. That sailing will be followed by the CMA CGM Nabucco and CMA CGM Titus, due to transit the Suez on July 5 and July 12, respectively, sources say.
The weekly MEDEX deploys a fleet of 10 CMA CGM ships, with Cosco Shipping co-loading on the service through slot charter rights that sources put at approximately 1,000 TEUs per week out of the Indian region, including Sri Lanka’s Colombo Port.
Sources at CMA CGM and Cosco in India who spoke with the Journal of Commerce confirmed the resumption of the Suez rotation for the MEDEX service.
Despite CMA CGM’s apparent return to the Suez, the route is still viewed as a risk by other major liners. Maersk has ruled out a return to Red Sea transits this year, saying Trump’s announcement about the Houthis standing down was still “pretty far” from the threshold that would make the carrier comfortable in resuming Suez transits.
Details please refer to the JOC news.
Source: JOC