No full scale return to the Suez is expected in the next 2 months despite the statement from the Suez Canal Authority on 25 November that Maersk will send their ships back to the Suez Canal in early December. Neither Maersk or its Gemini Cooperation partner Hapag-Lloyd are scheduled to return any of their ships to the Suez next month. CMA CGM remains the only main carrier to test the early return to the Suez, with 3 of its Asia-Europe & Med services set to resume eastbound voyages from the end of December.
The container market barometer continues to weaken with TEU-mile growth already falling behind vessel supply growth. The imbalance will be further worsened once carriers return their ships to the Suez, with global TEU-mile demand expected to drop by up to 6%. Transpacific rate weakness continues to drag down the overall market, with carriers still unwilling to withdraw capacity while charter rates are still holding firm driven by Maersk and CMA CGM.
Johnson Leung
CMA CGM set to return to the Suez
CMA CGM is getting ready for a large scale return to the Suez route, setting the stage for an eventual resumption of full sailings through the Red Sea. After 3 trial voyages through the Suez in November, CMA CGM will redirect further eastbound sailings on the Asia-North Europe FAL1 (OCEAN Alliance NEU4/AEU2/LL4) and FAL3 (OCEAN Alliance NEU5/AEU6/LL5) services as well as the Asia-Med MEX1 (OCEAN Alliance MED2/AEM2/WM2/MEX1) service to the Suez starting from 21 December 2025, with a total of 10 Suez voyages planned through the end of January 2026. These moves could serve as a prelude to the return of some 5m TEU of containership capacity that are currently diverted to the Cape route that would worsen the effective TEU-mile demand and supply imbalance in 2026.
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