Container transits through the Suez Canal have rebounded as more shipping lines consider the security risks in the region manageable. Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) is the latest to test the route, according to the consultancy Linerlytica, while Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd continue to move services back to the Suez-Red Sea corridor and CMA CGM increases its volumes on the interoceanic route.<\/p>\n
According to the latest weekly report from Linerlytica, MSC has sent seven ships eastward through the Suez Canal and the Bab el Mandeb strait in the last two weeks. The company has not made any official announcement, but the movements suggest that the Geneva-based shipping line does not want to lag behind its top global competitors in the gradual return to the short route between Asia and Europe.<\/p>\n
The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has been actively campaigning with the industry for months. The agency, headed by Osama Rabie, describes its approach as a “constructive strategy” based on opening channels of direct communication with all its clients. Volumes remain below historical peaks, but the trickle of re-engagement suggests that this dialogue is bearing fruit.<\/p>\n
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, partners in the Gemini Cooperation alliance, announced last week the relocation of a new service to the Suez Canal. The Danish shipping line had already resumed calls in the Eastern Mediterranean and is now adding a route with a stop in Tangier Med (Morocco), in addition to adding more calls in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). According to Linerlytica\u2019s calculations, Maersk has already returned more than 30% of the volumes it had diverted via the Cape of Good Hope back to the trans-Suez corridor, and believes the conditions are right to move more services in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
The company explained to its clients that the changes have been adopted following thorough security evaluations. Among the commercial arguments are reduced distances, improved transit times, and lower fuel consumption, a critical factor this year due to the rise in bunker prices. The environmental sustainability of the operation, with fewer emissions associated with shorter rotations, is part of the same argument.<\/p>\n
CMA CGM has been the most committed top global shipping line to maintaining transit through Suez. Even at times of highest tension in the Red Sea, the French company continued to operate calls thanks to the European Union’s EUNAVFOR operation, responsible for escorting merchant ships in the area. The SCA has detailed in recent weeks the passage of several of the largest and most modern ships from the line, such as the CMA CGM Saint Germain, the CMA CGM Notre Dame, and the CMA CGM Vendome, ultra-large vessels with a capacity of 24,000 TEUs.<\/p>\n
Osama Rabie held a new meeting with representatives of CMA CGM on August 18, according to the Egyptian agency itself, which described the tone of the meeting as positive. The SCA estimates that 199 of the French group’s ships have transited the canal since early 2026, with a net cargo of 5.2 million tons. This data contrasts with that of 2025, when 212 CMA CGM ships made the passage with 18.8 million tons transported, illustrating the magnitude of the diversion that occurred during the previous year and the margin for recovery that remains.<\/p>\n
During the same meeting, Christine Kaboo, the Executive Vice President of Assets and Operations for the CMA CGM group, conveyed to the Egyptian authority the company\u2019s commitment to continue increasing the number of transits. The shipping line expects to add new ships from various services returning to the corridor in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
The simultaneous return of MSC, Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, and CMA CGM to the Suez-Red Sea axis alters the operational map of maritime trade between Asia and Europe that had been consolidated over the past years around the long route via the Cape of Good Hope. For the SCA, each new recovered service translates into toll revenue; for the shipping lines, it means fewer days at sea, a lower fuel bill, and a more agile supply chain to Mediterranean ports, including those in the Strait of Gibraltar, key transshipment points for east-west traffic in Europe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Container transits through the Suez Canal have rebounded as more shipping lines consider the security risks in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[224],"tags":[6163,48316,245,48115,22794,48317,48318,8091,7454],"class_list":["post-148612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-maersk","tag-cargo","tag-el-estrecho-digital","tag-maersk","tag-maritime-news","tag-passenger-transport","tag-port-industry","tag-port-logistics","tag-shipping-news","tag-strait-of-gibraltar"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/117122036402177625","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}