In light of the increasingly complex and uncertain international context, the CMA CGM Group has announced it will be putting some of its ships on the three FAL 1, FAL 3 and MEX services (operated by the carrier as part of the Ocean Alliance, which includes CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen and OOCL) back on the Cape of Good Hope route.
The FAL 1 and FAL 3 services connect China and South-East Asia with Northern European ports, while the Mediterranean Club Express (MEX) links China and South-East Asia with the central-western Mediterranean.
The decision taken by the Marseille-based shipping group sounds a bit like a U-turn: CMA CGM was one of the first companies to test a return to sailing through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, with the 17,859 TEU CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin, which crossed the Egyptian waterway in November 2025 on its return journey to Asia.
Translation by Giles Foster
