MSC has relaunched its China-India Osprey extra loader service that will start on 28 April 2026 with the 5,041 teu MSC TAMPA V at Qingdao followed by the 9,200 teu MSC MADELEINE at Ningbo on 7 May and the 6,492 teu MSC AQUARIUS VII at Qingdao on 15 May. These ships will provide direct connections to Mundra to cater for the increased demand on the corridor due to the Middle East war.

Maersk will launch a new SLA service connecting the Mediterranean and Baltic Sea from 4 May 2026. The SLA service will call at Tanger Med, Gdansk, Bremerhaven, Vado Liguew, Port Said, Alexandria, Tanger Med, turning in 35 days using 5 ships of 2,800 to 5,000 teu starting with the 2,824 teu SINE A at Tanger Med on 4 May 2026.

Zhonggu will upgrade its China Red Sea Express (CRX) to a regular weekly service to call at Shanghai, Ningbo, Nansha, Jeddah, Aqaba, Sokhna, Shanghai from May 2026, with CU Lines joining as a vessel provider. The service will turn in 56 days using 8 ships of 1,700 to 2,500 teu. The service was first launched by Zhonggu in October 2025 initially with just 3 ships on an irregular frequency and have been gradually upgraded as more ships are deployed. CU Lines will operate the 2,518 teu ZHONG GU ZH

Evergreen and PIL are launching a new Far East-South Africa Express (SAF)/UBX service from 28 May 2026 calling at Shanghai, Ningbo, Kaohsiung, Shekou, Singapore, Durban, Cape Town, Singapore, Shanghai. The SAF/UBX service will turn in 63 days and deploys 9 ships of 4,800 to 5,600 teu with the first sailing scheduled to commence at Shanghai on 28 May 2026.

CMA CGM will be using the Suez route in both directions on the newly launched Japan-China-North Europe Ocean Rise Express (OCR) service, allowing them to save 2 weeks on a round trip rotation compared to using the longer Cape route. The OCR service was launched on 2 April 2026 and calls at Kobe, Nagoya, Yokohama, Xiamen, Yantian, Jeddah, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Southampton, Jeddah, Nansha, Kobe. The service will turn in 84 days using the shorter Suez route and will deploy 12 ships of 8,400 to 10,00

CMA CGM is bringing back westbound Suez transits on the Europe Pakistan India Consortium (EPIC) service starting from this week with the 11,388 teu CMA CGM GEMINI that will arrive at Suez on 29 April 2026. All subsequent westbound sailings on the EPIC service are scheduled to use the Suez route, although the eastbound sailings are still taking the Cape route.

Register Free Trial 8 containerships were able to break out of the Hormuz on 18 April, but the exit path has been shut once again aas Iran turned back 4 CMA CGM ships and vowed to retaliate after the US seized the IRISL operated 5,125 teu TOUSKA on 20 April that was making an inbound voyage from Port Klang to Iran. The US blockade on Iranian ports have made little difference thus far, with at least 7 Iranian linked ships able to bypass the blockade in the last week alone. Apart from the rising

Akkon Lines has added a second ship to the East Africa Service (EAS) calling at Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Karachi, Dar es Salaam, Mombasa, Nhava Sheva with the service frequency upgraded from monthly to fortnightly. The EAS was first launched at Nhava Sheva on 13 February 2026 using a single ship, the 1,696 teu NARA on a monthly frequency until 4 April 2026 when a second ship, the 1,740 teu KONRAD was added. The service turns in 30 days on a rolling schedule with one sailing every 2 weeks.

X-Press Feeders will launch a new South China Java X-Press (SCJX) service connecting Yantian, Xiamen, Nansha, Jakarta, Surabaya, Yantian from 16 May 2026. The SCJX will turn in 21 days using 3 ships of 2,300 to 2,900 teu starting with the 2,902 teu WANTAI at Xiamen on 16 May, followed by the 2,312 teu X-PRESS MACHU PICCHU and 2,824 teu AS CAROLINA. OOCL will take slots on this service that it brands as the China-Indonesia Service 3 (CIS3).

CU Lines and GT Lines will jointly launch a new China Gulf Service (GCS)/Khor Fakkan China Express (KCX1) service calling at Shanghai, Nansha, Khor Fakkan, Shanghai. The service will operate on a fortnightly basis, turning in 42 days using 3 ships of 1,200 teu to 1,500 teu starting from 27 April 2026 with the 1,354 teu XING DONG 88 operated by CU Lines and 1,510 teu newbuilding NAN HAI ZHI YUAN operated by GT Lines, with a 3rd ship that is still to be named.

CU Lines has added a new China Gulf Express (CGX) service using tonnage of up to 10,000 teu, including several ships taken over from SeaLead in April 2026. The new service will call at Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Nansha, Port Klang, Mundra, Karachi, Sohar, Khor Fakkan, Qingdao with the first sailing by the 10,114 teu EXPRESS BERLIN at Qingdao on 27 April 2026. The 6,758 teu RACINE had already started 2 weeks earlier from 12 April as an extra loader from China to Khor Fakkan and will also

COSCO Shipping has added a new East China Nusantara Express (ECNX) service calling at Shanghai, Ningbo, Jakarta, Shanghai from 20 April 2026. The ECNX will turn in 21 days and will deploy 3 ships of 2,700 teu to 4,200 teu starting with the 4,051 teu XIN YANG ZHOU, followed by the 4,253 teu COSCO COLOMBO and 2,741 teu ERASMUS JUSTICE. OOCL will take slots on this service as the China Indonesia Service 1 (CIS1)