Shipping lines return to Suez Canal to address capacity shortages

Shipping companies are beginning to return to the Suez Canal route, primarily to address critical container capacity shortages. Marc van Haaren, CCO of the logistics company Shypple, warns that this shift is driven by the need for carriers to recover capacity rather than a move to lower freight costs for importers and exporters.

Recent activity shows CMA CGM has already deployed large vessels, including a 23,000-container ship, through the canal. Maersk is currently testing the route, while Hapag-Lloyd has not yet resumed service. This trend is most visible on Europe-to-Asia routes where capacity pressure is highest.

A significant factor in this acceleration is that approximately 2.4 million containers worth of capacity are currently tied up due to storms in Asia. By utilizing the Suez Canal instead of the Cape of Good Hope route—which adds ten to fifteen days to transit times—carriers can more quickly free up available ships. While transit times may decrease, van Haaren notes that schedules and rates are changing unevenly across different carriers.