French container shipping giant CMA CGM SA suspended the passage of its vessels through the Red Sea due to security risks, meaning one of the last major firms in the industry has now deemed the area too unsafe because of attacks that Houthi militants have been carrying out.
The crews serving on the company’s ships were informed of the decision earlier Friday, the person said. CMA CGM will keep operating in the northern Red Sea but will not send its fleets through the southern part that is unavoidable for any vessel seeking to use Egypt’s Suez Canal to go between Europe and Asia.
Swaths of the container shipping industry including A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S already stopped sending their ships through the area after numerous attacks since late last year. That left CMA CGM among the last of the major lines still going through.
The Houthis have been attacking shipping since mid-November. First they went after ships connected to Israel because of the war in Gaza, then they added US and UK-connected vessels to their list of targets after both nations bombed Yemen in an effort to quell the attacks.
Hundreds of container ships and large numbers of oil tankers and commodity carriers have elected to avoid the area altogether.
