Red Sea

Services

CMA CGM restarts Red Sea Med Express (REDEX)

CMA CGM has relaunched its Red Sea Med Express (REDEX) service with a new rotation calling at Port Said, Marsaxlokk, Alexandria, Aqaba, Jeddah, Port Said from 19 March 2026. The service will turn in 3 weeks and will deploy 3 ships of 2,500 teu starting with the 2,592 teu CMA CGM VILA DO CONDE at Malta on 19 March 2026.

Services

CMA CGM returns to Suez/Red Sea route after 10 day suspension

CMA CGM has resumed transits through the Suez Canal barely 10 days after suspending passage on the Red Sea route on 28 February 2026. The Asia-Med Phoenician Express (PHOEX/BEX2) service operated by CMA CGM with ships of 13,00-16,000 teu returned to the Suez on 11 March 2026 on both the eastbound and westbound voyages after just 1 ship was redirected to the Cape of Good Hope due to security situation in the Middle East. CMA CGM also announced the resumption of cargo bookings to the Middle East

Services

Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk to add new Asia-Med-Red Sea service with Jeddah link

Gemini Cooperation partners Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk will launch a new Far East-Med-Red Sea SE4/AE19 service via the Cape of Good Hope calling at Xingang, Qingdao, Busan, Ningbo, Shanghai, Tanjung Pelepas, Tangier Med, Port Said, Jeddah, Tangier Med, Singapore, Xingang from 13 March 2026. The service will cater to high demand to the Red Sea due to the Iran crisis that started on 28 February 2028. The service will turn in 16 weeks and will deploy up to 16 ships of 10,000 to 13,000 teu from Maersk

Services

Maersk returns to Suez route on Middle East-US East Coast MECL service

Maersk will return to the Suez route on its Middle East Container Line (MECL) service on both directions from January 2026. The service calls at Mundra, Pipavav, Nhava Sheva, Salalah, New York, Charleston, Savannah, Houston, Norfolk, New York, Tangier Med, Salalah, Jebel Ali, Mundra. Based on current pro-forma schedules, the service will turn in 13 weeks using 13 ships of 6,000 to 7,200 teu, with just a 1 week reduction in total turnaround time despite the shorter Suez route compared to the pre

Services

Greta Shipping adds Red Sea 1 (RS1) service

Greta Shipping will launch a new Red Sea 1 (RS1) service connecting Salalah, Djibouti, Salalah from 3 January 2026. The service will operate weekly initially using the 1,030 teu BHAGYA LAXMI for 3 weeks and is scheduled to be replaced by the 1,730 teu GRETA STAR from 24 January 2026.

Services

ONE takes slots on Red Sea-China Service (RCS) - a joint service operated by GFS/ESL/RCL/TSL

ONE will start to take slots on the Red Sea-China Service (RCS) from 15 January 2026. The RCS is a joint service operated by GFS, ESL, RCL and TSL calling at Shanghai, Qingdao, Nansha, Shekou, Jeddah, Sokhna, Aqaba, Jeddah, Shanghai that was first launched on 14 November 2025 and branded as RCS by GFS, China Red Sea Connector (ECRC) by ESL , RCR by RCL and RCX by TSL. The service turns in 8 weeks and initially deploys 5 ships of 2,500 to 3,600 teu on a rolling schedule, and is expected to be up

Services

GFS, ESL, RCL & TS Lines to launch new Red Sea China Service (RCS/ECRC/RCR/RCX)

Global Feeder Shipping (GFS), Emirates Shipping Line (ESL), Regional Container Line (RCL) and TS Lines (TSL) will launch a new Red Sea China Service that is branded as RCS by GFS, China Red Sea Connector (ECRC) by ESL , RCR by RCL and RCX by TSL to connect Shanghai, Qingdao, Nansha, Shekou, Jeddah, Sokhna, Aqaba, Jeddah, Shanghai from 14 November 2025. The service will turn in 8 weeks and will initially deploy 5 ships of 2,500 to 3,500 teu on a rolling schedule starting with the 3,524 teu SSF D

Services

X-Press Feeders add China Red Sea X-PRESS (CRX)

X-Press Feeders has added a new China Red Sea X-PRESS (CRX) service connecting Ningbo, Nansha, Shekou, Djibouti, Sokhna, Jeddah, Ningbo in cooperation with China United Lines (CUL) on the latter's Red Sea Service (REX). The CRX/REX service turns in 7 to 8 weeks using 7 ships of 1,500 to 2,800 teu on a rolling schedule with CUL operating 6 ships and X-Press operating a single ship.

Markets

Carriers testing Red Sea return

CMA CGM has sent the 17,859 teu CMA CGM BENJAMIN FRANKLIN on the FAL1/NEU4 service on an eastbound Suez passage, marking the first OCEAN Alliance FE-North Europe sailing to return to the Red Sea since 2024. The ship is scheduled to pass the Suez on 1 November and arrive at Port Klang on 13 November which is a week earlier compared to taking the longer route via the Cape of Good Hope. A second Suez passage eastbound is scheduled for the CMA CGM ZHENG HE a week later, although subsequent sailings

Services

CMA CGM adds new calls on Asia-Red Sea REX2 service

CMA CGM will add new calls at Qingdao and Aqaba on its stand-alone Asia-Red Sea REX2 service from 16 October 2025. The enhanced REX2 service will call at Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Nansha, Singapore, Djibouti, Jeddah, Sokhna, Aqaba, Qingdao, turning in 9 weeks using 9 ships of 5,000 to 9,000 teu with a extra week added to the rotation.

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