Jan 20 (Reuters) – Major shipping companies are devising strategies for a return to the Suez Canal after more than 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 2025 led some companies to explore resumption plans, though U.S. President Donald Trump’s warnings of possible U.S. action in Iran have renewed some worries since December.
Below are the latest updates:
MAERSK
The Danish shipping company said in January it would resume sailings via the Red Sea and Suez Canal for one of its services this month, after two vessels tested the route in December and earlier in January.
Maersk said its weekly service connecting the Middle East and India with the U.S. east coast will be first in the group’s staggered return to the Suez route, starting on January 26 with a sailing departing Oman’s port of Salalah.
CMA CGM
The world’s third-largest container shipping line said on Tuesday it would re-route vessels on three of its services away from the Suez Canal due to global uncertainties, cutting back plans to expand transits.
After a few sailings using naval escorts, CMA CGM had been preparing to expand its use of the route, sending two large container ships through the canal last month while aiming to start regular India-U.S. transits in January.
HAPAG-LLOYD
German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd will not adjust its operations in the Red Sea for now, a spokesperson said in January shortly after Maersk said it would resume sailings there.
The group’s CEO said in December that 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.
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 in December.
(Compiled by Mireia Merino, Javi West Larrañaga, Gemma Guasch in Gdansk; Edited by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
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