DANISH shipping giant Maersk said Monday it had resumed transits through the Suez Canal for the first time since the start of attacks by Houthi rebels in the zone three years ago.
“Maersk and (German shipping firm) Hapag-Lloyd have announced a structural change to one of the Gemini services, the AE15 service: it will now take the Trans-Suez route instead of sailing around the Cape of Good Hope,” Maersk said in a statement.
Gemini is the name of the partnership between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd while the AE15 service connects Asia, the Mediterranean and Europe.
The decision to avoid the Red Sea, the Bab-elMandeb Strait and the Suez Canal dated back to 19 November 2023, when Iran-aligned Houthi militia launched a first attack from the Yemeni coast on container traffic.
Ships have since been circumnavigating Africa by tacking to its eastern coastline off the Cape of Good Hope, to the south of South Africa, before heading northwards towards Europe and the Mediterranean.
“This joint decision with Hapag-Lloyd ccomes following thorough assessments of the security situation in the Red Sea area, and marks a step towards a gradual return to the trans-Suez corridor,” Maersk said, adding the move would permit faster transit times.
The move is nonetheless contingent upon security in the region, and the operators have contingency plans drawn up should the situation deteriorate.
Experts calculate 70 per cent of the freight traffic that passed through the Red Sea in 2023 is currently being diverted via the Cape of Good Hope. — AFP
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