Register Free Trial Carriers continue to push for an early return to the Red Sea with MSC the latest to join the fray as 7 of it ships crossed the Bab el Mandeb in the last 2 weeks. Maersk has confirmed that it has already returned over 30% of its Cape volumes back to the trans-Suez route and it views the conditions for a full return to the Red Sea have already been met even as it eyes further fleet expansion to combat persistent port and landside bottlenecks. Congestion remains elevated over t

MSC has restarted Red Sea transits with its own ships from August 2026 with at least 7 eastbound voyages through the Bab el Mandeb on in the last 2 weeks on various Europe-Med to China services. Although MSC has not made any formal announcements about the resumption of their trans-Suez services, these are set to become regular deployments with more Red Sea dark transits planned in the next 2 weeks. List of MSC transits are as follows:- * 23,782 teu MSC AMELIA on Med-China TIGER service made S

Messina will launch a new Red Sea Express (RSX) service connecting Nhava Sheva, Sohar, Jeddah, Nhava Sheva from 27 August 2026 with the newly chartered 917 teu BEHRAM BOX on a 20 day rotation.

Wan Hai has launched a new Asia Middle East Express (AMX) extra loader service connecting Qingdao, Ningbo, Shekou, Karachi, Khor Fakkan, Qingdao from 17 July 2026. The service will provide ad hoc connections to Pakistan and UAE with ships of 2,600 to 3,000 teu.

Hapag-Lloyd and Zim will launch a new Asia-South America East Coast 3 (AS3)/ZIM Falcon Service (ZFS) to connect Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Hong Kong, Yantian, Rio Grande, Paranagua, Itajai, Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai from 13 September 2026. The service was first announced by Zim on 2 July 2026 and was to be operated exclusively by Zim but the plan has been changed with Hapag-Lloyd joining the service and a revised port rotation that will include a new call at Xiamen and Rio Grande replacin

Register Free Trial While traffic on the Strait of Hormuz remains restricted with just 2 containerships making outbound passages last week, traffic on the Bab el Mandeb continues to increase with CMA CGM and Maersk pushing 3 more services back to the Suez route as they continue to defy the threat of Houthi attacks. These moves are aimed at combating the shortage of vessels and container equipment that have been made worse by protracted port congestion across North Asia and Europe. COSCO Shippin

CMA CGM has returned to the Suez route on for its eastbound FAL3 voyages from 22 July 2026, with 3 eastbound voyages already completed with subsequent sailings also due to take the same route. However, the westbound voyages are still using the longer Cape route. The service is operated solely by CMA CGM as part of the OCEAN Alliance NEU5 service, branded by COSCO as the AEU6, OOCL as LL5 and by CMA CGM and Evergreen as the FAL3.

The 20,568 teu MANCHESTER MAERSK will make a westbound Suez Canal transit on 16 August 2026, marking the return of the Gemini Asia-North Europe AE2/NE1 service to Suez route. Maersk has also switched to the Suez route on the Asia-Med AE19/SE4 service with ships transiting on both directions since the end of July 2026. Although Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd officially confirmed the structural change to the Suez route on 10 August 2026, the changes have already been implemented on earlier sailings. The

Singapore-based SeaLead Shipping has filed for liquidation on 3 August 2026, ending its 9 year presence in the container markets. First established in March 2017, SeaLead began offering feeder services in the Middle East and only introduced long-haul services connecting China and the Middle East in 2020. It entered the Transpacific route in 2021 and continued its expansion until 2025 when it operated 59 ships for 207,000 teu at its peak to become the 13th largest liner operator in the world. Se

Containership traffic through the Northern Sea Route (NSR) is set to break all previous records with more than 25 sailings expected this year, compared to just 15 voyages in 2025 and 11 voyages in 2024. This year will also see the first transit by a South Korean ship, with Panstar Shipping launching its own Arctic Route Service with the 2,786 teu PANSTAR ACRO (ex-HMM MOMBASA) that was acquired by Panstar from HMM on 1 August 2026. The ship is scheduled to sail from Busan on 22 August 2026 and w

COSCO Shipping will deploy its first ship through the Bab el Mandeb in more than 2 years with the 4,738 teu XIN HUI ZHOU set to return to the Red Sea on the revived RES4 service from 28 July 2026 connecting Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Nansha, Sokhna, Shanghai. The service will only call at Sokhna on its maiden call scheduled on 19 August, but will add a Jeddah call on its second voyage scheduled on 7 October. COSCO has been offering regular weekly sailings to the Red Sea since March 2026 through

COSCO and ONE will jointly launch a new East Africa Mozambique (EMS) / Mozambique Coast Link (MCL) service connecting Port Louis, Maputo, Beira, Nacala, Port Louis from 18 September 2026. The service will turn in 42 days and will operate on a fortnightly frequency using 3 ships of 1,200 to 1,800 teu starting with the 1,496 teu CONTSHIP DAY operated by COSCO, followed by the 1,876 teu BRIGHT FUJI from ONE and 1,200 teu CAPE FLORES from COSCO.