26 February 2024 (Lloyd's List) - CMA CGM has sent at least one new vessel through the Bab el Mandeb over the weekend, and an Automatic Identification System blackout on another suggests at least two vessels are destined to have transited the waterway.
The 10,000 teu CMA CGM Ganges (IMO: 9718117) departed Jeddah last Thursday morning. It then held station off Jeddah for 24 hours before its AIS signal was switched off.
The movements suggest the vessel was awaiting a naval escort before continuing its voyage.
When it emerged again in the early hours of Sunday morning, it had crossed the Bab el Mandeb and was en route to the Djibouti anchorage. It has since departed the anchorage and is heading east through the Gulf of Aden.
Meanwhile, the 15,000 teu CMA CGM Apollon (IMO: 9882516) last sent an AIS signal off Jeddah early on Friday morning. It has not yet restarted transmissions, but CMA CGM schedule data show it is due in Jebel Ali on February 29.
A further vessel, the 14,000 teu CMA CGM T.Roosevelt (IMO: 9780873), is transiting the Great Bitter Lake and is due to call at Jeddah on Wednesday. Schedule data for this vessel indicates its next port of call is Port Klang in Malaysia.
CMA CGM, which was the last major carrier to transit the Red Sea under the protection of French naval escorts, finally called an end to passages past Yemen when it stated on February 5 that it would no longer use the route.
The decision was predicated by a near miss when its vessel Koi (IMO: 9462354) was targeted by Houthi missiles and led to several CMA CGM vessels, which had been scheduled to pass the Bab el Mandeb en route to Asia, reverse course and exit the Red Sea via the Suez Canal.
Nevertheless, despite the statement to the contrary, CMA CGM still appears to be willing to risk the Bab el Mandeb passage when it can get naval protection.
