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.

COSCO, HMM, Interasia Lines (IAL) and Pacific International Lines (PIL) will jointly launch a new India-East Africa service connecting Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Dar Es Salaam, Mombasa, Nhava Sheva. The service will turn in 35 days and will deploy 5 ships of 2,400-3,000 teu from 23 September 2026. The service will be branded respectively by HMM as the Gulf India East Africa (GIA), IAL as India-East Africa Service (IEX) and PIL as the Imara Express (IMX).

Register Free Trial The container freight rate rally received another boost heading into August as carriers pushed through rate increases across the Transpacific, Latin America, India subcontinent and Middle East routes with the SCFI composite index rebounding by 4.7% as it clawed back part of its recent losses and defying the weakness on the Asia-Europe route where freight rates remain under downward pressure. Cargo demand remains strong out of Asia, and persistent port congestion in China has

Maersk will launch a new West Coast Shuttle service connecting Guayaquil, Balboa, Manzanillo, Lazaro Cardenas, Balboa, Guayaquil from 20 September 2026. The service will turn in 21 days and deploy 3 ships of 2,500 teu starting with the 2,556 teu AS PALINA at Guayaquil on 20 September 2026.

COSCO will join Yang Ming on a revamped Japan-Taiwan-South China (JTS) service serving Nagoya, Tokyo, Yokohama, Keelung, Kaohsiung, Shekou, Xiamen, Nagoya from 18 July 2026. The service will turn in 21 days using 3 ships of 1,400-1,800 teu with COSCO's 1,702 teu QING YUN HE joining the service at Nagoya at 5 August 2026, operating alongside 2 more ships from Yang Ming using the 1,440 teu CAPE FELTON and 1,803 teu YM INAUGURATION. The service replaces Yang Ming's previous JTS that operate on an

Register Free Trial While Houthis choke the Bab el-Mandeb to Saudi oil exports, containerships are still using the strait to deliver cargo to Jeddah and other Red Sea ports with several carriers including Maersk and CMA CGM also sticking to their trans-Suez transits. The pause in military exchanges is providing little clarity on the direction of the market, although container freight futures anticipate freight rates to drop from their recent peaks despite the recent rise in fuel prices. Despite