Maersk Tests Red Sea Transit with US-Flagged Vessel
Maersk continues to carefully inch back toward a return to routes using the Red Sea and Suez Canal as it this week completes the second transit through the region. The carrier, however, remains non-committal to timing for a further return to the route, instead emphasizing security concerns.
The containership Maersk Denver (84,771 dwt) made the transit of the Bab al-Mandeb on January 11 to 12, reaching the Red Sea northbound without incident. It is notable as the vessel built in 2007 is U.S.-flagged, operating for the company’s Maersk Line, Limited subsidiary, and contracted to carry cargoes for the U.S. government. It is currently westbound, having left India and making stops in Jebel Ali in Dubai and Salalah, Oman.
The current schedule for the vessel, which has a capacity of 6,200 TEU, shows that it will transit the Suez Canal at the end of the week. It will then proceed to the U.S. East Coast and on to Houston, having become only the second Maersk vessel to travel through the region and the Suez since the beginning of 2024.
The Maersk Sebarok (108,215 dwt) completed the Suez Canal transit between December 18 and 19 as the first Maersk vessel back to the region. The containership, however, is registered in Singapore and also deployed on the route to India.
“Assuming that security thresholds continue to be met, we will continue our stepwise approach towards gradually resuming navigation along the East-West corridor via the Suez Canal and the Red Sea,” Maersk said in a statement released yesterday, January 12. However, it also said, “There are no additional sailings to announce at this time.”
The Suez Canal Authority has been anxious to encourage more container carriers and shipping in general to return to their routes. Late last year, it said Maersk had agreed to resume full service, but the carrier cautioned it would be a slow process to ensure the safety of its crews and ships.
CMA CGM sent one of its largest vessels through the Suez Canal in December (SCA)
Maersk follows CMA CGM, which has been moving more aggressively in restoring its routes through the Suez Canal and Red Sea. The carrier has increased the number of vessel transits, including sending one of its flagship LNG-fueled 24,000 TEU vessels, CMA CGM Jacques Saade, through the canal in late December.
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The canal authority highlights the efficiency and renewed safety of the routes. As an example, Maersk has been diverting the ships on the MECL service from the United States to India, including the Maersk Denver, around South Africa. The company shows the routing takes a scheduled 63 days starting from Charleston, going first west to Houston and then back to the U.S. East Coast, before proceeding to India via South Africa.
Despite the encouragement by the Suez Canal Authority, carriers have been slow to return to the routing. Some said it would require adjustments from their insurance providers to make the route affordable after recognizing the renewed safety. The latest unrest in Iran and fears of renewed confrontations may, however, also slow carriers' plans to return to the region. The United States continues to threaten actions to support the demonstrators in Iran as the regime is said to be cracking down on the protests seeking economic reforms or a new interim government, possibly led by Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late Shah of Iran.