France’s CMA CGM says has not changed Red Sea routes plans

French shipping firm CMA CGM said on Friday it had not changed plans announced last month to gradually raise the number of vessels transiting through the Suez Canal, unlike Denmark’s Maersk, which has said it would divert all vessels from Red Sea routes.

Maersk said it was diverting vessels around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope for the foreseeable future, warning customers to prepare for significant disruption.

“There is no change on our side,” CMA CGM said in an emailed reply.

Shippers across the world are switching away from the Red Sea – and so the shortest route from Asia to Europe via the Suez Canal – after Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen stepped up attacks on vessels in the Gulf region to show their support for Palestinian group Hamas fighting Israel in Gaza.