A Maersk spokesperson says the company has not set a firm date for resuming Suez Canal sailings, despite the Suez Canal Authority announcing an early-December comeback for the Danish carrier.
In a statement, Maersk said it intends to restore navigation on the East–West corridor “as soon as conditions allow,” stressing that crew safety remains the top priority. “Given the significant progress on both fronts, Maersk will take steps to resume navigation and over time normalise the transits on this route,” the company noted.
The clarification comes as the SCA and Maersk unveiled a strategic partnership deal in Ismailia, following which the SCA said in a release that Maersk services would begin returning to the canal at the start of December. The announcement followed renewed diplomatic efforts in the region and the decision by Houthi forces to suspend maritime attacks in the Red Sea — a key factor in easing operator concerns after months of rerouting.
The SCA said the planned reintroduction of Maersk ships marks an early step toward restoring normal east–west container flows. Admiral Ossama Rabiee, the authority’s chairman, called Maersk’s move “a step in the right direction,” pointing to rising traffic in October and November as signs that the Red Sea corridor is stabilising.
Maersk had diverted most of its fleet away from the Red Sea last year amid attacks near Bab el-Mandeb. While the company reaffirmed that the Suez Canal remains its most efficient Asia–Europe route, it stopped short of confirming the SCA’s timeline, saying sailings will restart only when security conditions fully support it.
Shipping analysts at SEB said Maersk’s moves have caught parts of the market off guard. “Maersk surprised the market by starting a process to return to the Red Sea before expected,” the Swedish bank wrote. “This will effectively release capacity, putting further pressure on freight rates. The timing of a decline in freight rates and the potential impact on guidance and the size of share buybacks are unclear. The positive is that the inevitable happens sooner rather than later for carriers to take out capacity on declining freight rates, before they eventually come back up,” SEB said in its note to investors.
French carrier CMA CGM is also preparing a full return next month following similar talks with the SCA. Its 17,859 teu CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin recently became the largest vessel to transit the waterway in two years, a move the authority said reflects improving confidence among operators.
The SCA has been offering discounted tolls for large containerships and strengthening its service network as it pushes for a broader reopening of the Red Sea passage.
