CMA CGM has announced that three of its services that had previously returned to the Suez Canal will be rerouted back around Africa's Cape of Good Hope.
The ocean carrier announced the move in a January 20 news release, citing "complex and uncertain international context." The reroutes include two separate long-haul services connecting Far East Asia and Europe, and CMA's Mediterranean Express service. This comes after the company had conducted limited trial transits on some services through the Suez Canal in November and December of 2025, and as other carriers have pushed forward on their own plans to return shipping traffic to the region.
Although Houthi rebel attacks on vessels moving through the Red Sea have tapered off in recent months, leaders in Iran have vowed to attack commercial shipping targets if President Donald Trump follows through on his threats to conduct military strikes on the Middle Eastern country. CMA's decision to reverse course on returning to the Suez Canal also creates a new level of uncertainty for the shipping industry at large, which could eventually spread across other services and carriers, warns Destine Ozuygur, senior marketing analyst for freight intelligence platform Xeneta.
“Shippers crave predictability in supply chains," Ozuygur said in a January 20 release following CMA's announcement. "Carriers taking the decision to return to the Red Sea then reversing that decision — even if it is done for important safety reasons — still risks undermining confidence in schedule reliability and eroding trust in partnerships."
Shipping giant Maersk previously announced that its MECL loop connecting the Middle East to the U.S. East Coast would return to the Suez Canal on January 15, with the company calling the move a "significant milestone" in the gradual resumption of trans-Suez sailings. Ocean Network Express also launched a new Red Sea-China service that same day.
