Shipping companies are not expected to abandon routes around the Cape of Good Hope in the short term, and therefore a prompt return of large-scale voyages through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea is ruled out.
This is because it would require a significant restructuring of the networks of major carriers and the East-West alliances, such as Gemini Cooperation, Premier Alliance, and Ocean Alliance, as reported by Alphaliner.
In line with the consultancy’s statement, the mentioned coalitions often have “two East-West networks on paper: an already implemented Cape variant and an alternative Suez variant that remains on standby. The differences between both configurations are significant and any change would involve much more than simply redirecting the mainline vessels.”
“A network change would also require a deep review of the service patterns for feeders, shuttles, and mainline vessels to and from Saudi Arabia, as well as for intermediate port calls in the Mediterranean on the Asia-North Europe loops. Therefore, carriers will be cautious before making a change, waiting to have certainty that the routes through the Red Sea will be safe and reliable in the foreseeable future and not just for the next few weeks,” the entity added.
For his part, the Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, Ossama Rabiee, recently stated that the eastbound transit of the 17,859 TEU vessel CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin, followed by a safe passage through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, was “a positive indicator for the return of large container ships to the canal.”
The CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin recently became the largest container ship to transit the Suez Canal, after most high-capacity services on the East-West route abandoned the Red Sea passage in 2023.
The vessel transited from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea on an eastbound voyage of the Asia-Europe NEU4 loop, operated by the French carrier and also known as FAL1. From Suez, the ship continued its journey through the Red Sea and is scheduled to arrive at Port Kelang, Malaysia, in mid-November.
