Major global shipping lines are preparing to resume or increase transits through the Suez Canal, as regional developments revive the waterway’s role as the shortest and fastest route between East and West.
Yang Ming is seriously considering resuming Suez Canal transits, the company’s General Manager of Branches Ashraf Sami said during a meeting with Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie.
OOCL also plans to resume transits through the canal, with Inchcape General Manager Abdel Aziz Nabil expecting the shipping line to conduct a trial voyage in October.
COSCO is studying an increase in its Suez Canal services after one of its container ships successfully transited the waterway in recent days, General Manager Hany El-Salmy said. Three additional COSCO vessels are scheduled to transit the canal in the coming period.
Meanwhile, CMA CGM has continued using the Suez Canal since Red Sea tensions escalated in late 2023, according to Tarek Zaghloul, CEO of CMA CGM Egypt and Sudan. Around 60 vessels operated by the French shipping group are expected to transit the canal in September.
A.P. Moller-Maersk has also increased its Suez Canal activity, with the number of vessels and shipping services operated by the group rising to 67 movements in September, up from eight in the same month of 2025, said Hany El-Nady, the group’s representative for the Middle East and North Africa.
El-Nady expects Maersk’s annual movements through the canal to eventually reach 278.
Rabie said the authority’s flexible pricing policies and continued engagement with shipping customers had contributed to the return of a number of major shipping services to the canal.
He said the authority had raised operational readiness across the canal, stressing that navigation remains safe and regular and that pilots maintain high levels of readiness.
Regional geopolitical tensions have disrupted global supply chains and pushed up costs across the shipping industry, including fuel prices, freight rates and insurance premiums, Rabie said.
The Suez Canal Authority’s crisis management center is monitoring regional developments around the clock, while its economic research unit is assessing their impact on canal traffic, he added.
The meeting also reviewed the impact of regional developments on shipping schedules and explored ways to strengthen cooperation with major carriers.
