Maersk back in the Red Sea: Drewry

More and larger container vessels marked a 10-week high for transits on the contested Suez Canal-Red Sea route, according to Drewry. Containership transits via the Suez Canal and Red Sea reached a 10-week high for the week ending May 17, said shipping consultant Drewry.

Containerships sailing via the Suez Canal totaled 22 in the week ended May 10 May, and 32 for the week ended May 17 May, reaching a 10-week high, according to the Drewry Red Sea Diversion Tracker. The two-week total was down slightly from the previous fortnight but higher than in the weeks which followed the start of the Iran conflict in late February.

The Suez-Red Sea route has been a fraught stage for global carriers since late 2023 when Houthi rebels in Yemen began attacking merchant shipping linked to Israel. Liners connecting Asia with the Mediterranean, Europe and North America, and tanker operators diverted scheduled rotations around Africa, adding as much as two weeks to services.

A tentative return of the largest box ships at the beginning of the year was cut short after the United States and Israel attacked Iran. Drewry said CMA CGM of France (seven ships), Mediterranean Shipping Co.

(three ships) and Maersk (1 ship) were the only carriers to send vessels of more than 8,000 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) via the Suez Canal the week of May 17.

“Maersk (OTC: AMKBY) seems to have resumed sending ships via the Suez Canal,” said Drewry but only at the northern end of the Canal, in a Gemini service loop with Hapag-Lloyd which connects Asia, the Mediterranean and Saudi Arabia via the Cape of Good Hope and the Suez Canal.

Vessels sailing around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope continue to total about 190-200 per week. “The trend line of Suez Canal transits is currently slightly upwards, but the Cape of Good Hope still remains the dominant route to connect Asia and Europe. A wholesale return to the Suez route seems very remote, Drewry said. Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.