Shipping giants eye return to Suez after two-year Red Sea disruptions

LONDON –

Major shipping companies are devising strategies for a potential return to the Suez Canal after two years of disruptions due to security risks in the Red Sea.

They have been rerouting vessels via longer, costlier routes around Africa since November 2023, following attacks on commercial ships by Yemen’s Houthi forces, reportedly in solidarity with Palestinians during warfare in Gaza.

A ceasefire agreement reached in October has led some companies to explore resumption plans, although security remains a key concern.

Maersk, the Danish shipping company, said on Friday that one of its vessels successfully navigated the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait for the first time in nearly two years.

Maersk said it has no immediate plans to fully reopen the route and it is not considering a wider East-West network change back to the trans-Suez corridor, but considers the feat a “stepwise approach” to resuming passage.

CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest container shipping line, which has made limited Suez transits when security allows, will use the passage for its India-US INDAMEX service from January, according to a schedule published on its website.

Earlier in December, Rolf Habben Jansen, the CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, the German shipping group, said the return of the shipping industry to the Suez Canal would be gradual and there would be a transition period of 60-90 days to adjust logistics and avoid sudden port congestion.

The world’s fifth-largest container company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk had called for caution in November, saying they were monitoring the situation for evidence of increased security.

Wallenius Wilhelmsen, the Norwegian car shipping group, is still assessing the situation and will not resume sailing until certain conditions are met, a company spokesperson said on Friday.