Suez Canal: Large Container Ships Begin Returning

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) announced that large container ships have gradually resumed navigation through the Suez Canal, nearly two years after tensions escalated in the Red Sea.

Due to regional tensions, this large container ship returned to the Suez Canal and Bab el-Mandeb Strait for the first time since its last passage on October 22, 2023.

A statement noted that after transiting the Suez Canal, the ship safely passed through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. As the regional situation stabilizes, positive signs indicate that ultra-large container ships are expected to resume transits through the Red Sea and Suez Canal.

Operated by CMA CGM, the vessel is 399 meters long, 54 meters wide, with a draft of 13.5 meters. It can carry 17,859 containers and has a net tonnage of 177,000 tons, making it the largest container ship to transit the canal in two years.

Osama Rabie, Chairman and Managing Director of the Suez Canal Authority, stated that amid the stabilizing Red Sea situation, the transit of container ships through the Suez Canal and Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a positive signal for the return of ultra-large container ships to the canal.

He added that since May last year, the incentives and flexible marketing policies implemented by the authority have restored 28 medium-sized container ship sailings (with an average tonnage of 130,000 to 160,000 tons) traveling from Europe to Asia via the Suez Canal.

Additionally, Egyptian officials reportedly held meetings with major shipping companies to discuss the return of global shipping to the troubled Suez Canal route. Rabie met with representatives from 20 shipping companies and institutions last week to discuss developments in the Red Sea, as well as their impact on global trade and the maritime market via the canal.

However, although the Houthi rebels have stated they will halt attacks on Israeli and Red Sea merchant ships following the Gaza ceasefire, shipping risks persist.