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.

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)

4 ships from CMA CGM were forced to abort their attempted exit from the Persian Gulf on 18 April 2026 after Iran shut down the passage through the Strait of Hormuz less than 24 hours after announcing its re-opening. The 4 ships were part of a convoy of 12 ships that was led by the Apollo Easterns managed 1,030 teu ship BHAGYA LAXMI. She was followed by the 15,254 teu CMA CGM EVERGLADE, 2,592 teu CMA CGM MANAUS, 15,254 teu CMA CGM GALAPAGOS and 3,534 teu CMA CGM DIAMOND, while a second group of

ONE and HMM will launch a new Mediterranean Africa Express (MAX)/Mediterranean-West Africa 2 (MA2) service connecting Algeciras, Tangier, Dakar, Tema, Lekki, Abidjan, Algeciras from 7 July 2026. The MAX/MA2 service will turn in 35 days using 5 ships of 2,700 to 2,800 teu.

Register Free Trial MSC has become the first container carrier to operate 1,000 ships as it extended its lead at the top of the carrier rankings amidst continued market uncertainty driven by the Middle East crisis. The US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz starting from 13 April will further escalate the current tensions but the impact on the container shipping market is negligible as vessel traffic has been largely limited to Iranian linked ships over the past 6 weeks with just 4 outbound

CMA CGM has returned to the Suez route on a second Asia-Med service, with the Mediterranean Club Express (MEX) service scheduled to use the shorter route on both directions. 2 ships on eastbound voyages have already switched from the Cape route to the Suez route since the end of March 2026 starting with the 16,022 CMA CGM JULES VERNE on 29 March followed by the 15,536 CMA CGM APOLLON on 3 April. The first westbound voyage is scheduled on 21 April 2026 with the 16,022 teu CMA CGM MARCO POLO. The

Zhonggu has upgraded its China Red Sea Express (CRX) service with 6 ships of 1,700-1,900 teu being deployed on the service that calls at Ningbo, Nansha, Aden, Sokhna, Aqaba, Jeddah, Ningbo. The service was launched by Zhonggu in October 2025 initially with just 3 ships, with more ships being added gradually. The service turns in 8 weeks, with gaps being filled with slots on Sea Legend's Red Sea service.

Register Free Trial The Middle East tensions have claimed its first casualties, with the first containership sunk in the Persian Gulf 4 weeks after it was struck by Iranian missiles while SeaLead was forced to scale back its operations after its main Middle East service was incapacitated by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic remain mostly closed in the Hormuz, with the 5,466 teu CMA CGM KRIBI the only non-Iranian linked ship to make it out last week. There are still 45 ships for 275,0