Maersk and CMA CGM terminate US-Venezuela service

Maersk Line and CMA CGM will cease their joint Ceiba Express service connecting the United States to Venezuela, as US President Donald Trump piles up more political and economic pressure on Venezuela’s autocratic President Nicolas Maduro.

The service calls at Port Everglades, Kingston, La Guaira, Puerto Cabello, Cartagena, Pureto Cortes, Santo Tomas de Castilla and Port Everglades.

Using two CMA CGM ships and one Maersk vessel, the service has a three-week turnaround but will stop running at the end of the month, according to Alphaliner, which stated that it is not known if this arose from the Trump administration’s latest policies towards Venezuela.

In January, Maduro was sworn in for a third term in the face of election fraud allegations after polls in July 2024.

On 8 April, the Trump administration revoked licences that his predecessor Joe Biden granted to BP and Shell to extract natural gas from the energy majors’ projects in Venezuelan waters to supply gas to Trinidad and Tobago. The licences exempted BP and Shell from sanctions against Venezuela. The move came after the US Treasury took similar decisions against Chevron, Repsol and ENI in March.

From week 17, CMA CGM will be serving Venezuela out of Colombia and from the Jamaican hub of Kingston. The French line has introduced a new service, Veneziola Shuttle, which will cover Cartagena, Kingston, La Guaira, Puerto Cabello, and Cartagena. This weekly loop will turn in two weeks using the CMA CGM Pemba and CMA CGM Fort St Louis.

The French ocean carrier said in a customer advisory that the cessation of the Bonita service was a response to operational restructuring and changing market needs.

On the Veneziola Shuttle route, CMA CGM noted: “This service will allow us to maintain competitive and dedicated coverage in the market, connecting cargo from South Florida with our CAGEMA 2 service, as well as integrating traffic coming from Central America through our Yuka service.”

Maersk will serve Venezuela out of the Panamanian hub of Manzanillo, using its Venezuela Feeder service. This loop calls at Manzanillo (Panama), Cartagena (Col), La Guaira, Puerto Cabello, Manzanillo, Almirante, and Manzanillo.

Alison Koo
Asia Correspondent

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