Shipping Companies Prepare to Return to the Route Through the Red Sea

Major global liner shipping companies are once again sending ships through the Suez Canal and on the route through the Red Sea, gradually easing concerns about global price increases for goods due to longer shipping times. According to Reuters, French shipping company CMA CGM has increased the number of its ships passing through the Suez Canal, joining Danish carrier Maersk, which was the first to announce in mid-December that it was suspending navigation through the Red Sea due to attacks by Yemeni Houthis.

As is well known, the Suez Canal is the fastest route between Asia and Europe, but due to the danger of missile and drone attacks, shipping companies have begun using a much longer route around southern Africa, which extends the journey by a week. However, after a multinational maritime operation was launched under the leadership of the U.S. to ensure navigation in the Red Sea, shipping companies are assessing the new situation. CMA CGM stated in a press release that it is ‘conducting an in-depth analysis of the security environment’.

Soon a decision from Hapag-Lloyd

– We are currently developing plans to gradually increase the number of vessels passing through the Suez Canal. We are constantly monitoring the situation and are ready to respond immediately and adjust plans if necessary – the French company stated in a press release. According to data from their website, CMA CGM had redirected 28 ships to the route around the Cape of Good Hope as of Tuesday, while there were 22 vessels last Thursday.

A spokesperson for Hapag-Lloyd stated that the German shipping company will decide today whether to send ships through the Suez Canal again. It is worth noting that Hapag-Lloyd announced last week that by the end of the year, it would redirect 25 of its ships to the route around southern Africa. Maersk announced on Sunday that it is preparing to return its ships to the route in the Red Sea and through the Gulf of Aden, but by the beginning of this week, it had not responded to media inquiries about when its ships would start passing through the Suez Canal and what guarantees it received from multinational naval forces.

However, navigation in that part of the world remains uncertain. The Mediterranean Shipping Company announced that its container ship United VIII was attacked while sailing through the Red Sea on Tuesday. The Houthis also confirmed that they fired missiles at the ship, but did not confirm that the vessel was hit.