French carrier CMA CGM has denied that it is preparing to resume Suez Canal transits on a regular basis following yesterday’s Houthi announcement of a ceasefire of attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
The evidence that CMA CGM will be the first liner operator to resume Red Sea transits on a regular basis strengthened today, after AIS data appeared to confirm that one of its vessels is currently bound for the Suez Canal.
The 11,400 teu CMA CGM Columba, deployed on Europe-Middle East/India service EPIC, departed the Spanish hub of Algeciras at the weekend en route to the northern entrance to the canal.
According to AIS data, it is due to arrive on the evening of the 22 January, with a southbound transit expected to be scheduled for the following day.
However, a CMA CGM spokesperson told The Loadstar: “CMA CGM COLUMBA will sail through the Suez Canal to call the port of Jeddah as part of a single ad hoc call. Vessels on the EPIC service will thus not systematically sail through the Suez canal.
“CMA CGM is closely monitoring the ongoing developments in the region and hopes for a return to stability and safety for all. Regarding the Red Sea, the group’s top priority remains the safety of its seafarers, its vessels, and its customers’ cargo,” they added.
Analysts at Linerlytica noted that the vessel transited Suez on its headhaul westbound voyage last month.
Since the onset of the Red Sea crisis, ships on the EPIC service, which is jointly operated with Cosco and OOCL and also features ONE as a slot charterer, have been diverted around the Cape of Good Hope, the longer distance requiring it be expanded to 13 ships.
On the EPIC’s eastbound leg there is a call at the Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah, which prior to the crisis was the country’s principal container gateway, but was omitted from schedules since the Cape diversions began and was instead subsequently served by feeders out of the UAE hub ports.
In an analysis last week, eeSea head of operations and forecasting Destine Ozuygur tipped the French carrier and its Chinese partners to be the first to return to the canal, given “the relatively generous timing for Ocean Alliance’s new Day 9 network roll-out in April ,and previous tests from CMA CGM, OOCL, and Cosco on their partnered non-alliance services suggest we could see an early appearance on these schedules first”.
Ms Ozuygur also noted the current position of the 8,500 teu CMA CGM Titus, deployed on the Europe-Middle East/India Medex service, also operated in cooperation with Cosco and OOCL.
CMA CGM Titus, deployed on the Medex service since August 2022, “was the only vessel out of the 11-slot service to share a Suez transit in its schedules in the final months of 2024, and to actually complete these transits on 23 November and 31 December”, she said.
The vessel was scheduled to complete its next Cape of Good Hope transit on 12 February, but Ms Ozuygur added: “Seeing as how its en route to Marsaxlock with a current ETA of 18 January, they could still opt for routing it back through the Mediterranean passage on the way to Jeddah.”
According to AIS data, CMA CGM Titus is now berthed at CMA CGM’s Maltese hub.
Source: https://theloadstar.com/cma-cgm-set-to-be-first-liner-to-resume-suez-transits/
