Largescale return of container ships to Red Sea in 2026? Five key considerations for shippers

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here are signs that 2026 could be the year container ships make a largescale return to the Red Sea – but what would that look like and what would it mean for shippers?

Below are five key considerations for shippers.

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1. Different strategies to Red Sea return across carriers

CMA CGM has announced the return to the Suez Canal on three of its services. The first service with full loop, transiting Red Sea on both fronthaul and backhaul legs, is the INDAMEX connecting India/Pakistan with US East Coast.

eeSea data, powered by Xeneta, shows this will cut round trip transit times on this service by two weeks to 77 days and free up two ships.

Two other CMA CGM services have had their backhaul legs rerouted via Suez Canal – MEX (Ocean Alliance MED2) and FAL1 (OA NEU4) – reducing roundtrip transit time by one week and freeing up one ship respectively.

Other carriers are also testing the water.

Maersk made its first transit through Suez Canal in December with the Maersk Sebarok sailing through the region on the MECL1 service connecting Middle East and US East Coast.

It should be noted that, unlike CMA CGM, this was not announced until after the ship had transiting the region. It suggests Maersk is still a fair way from a largescale return, but unannounced transits were used by CMA CGM as it built towards a first announced transit, so perhaps Maersk is taking a similar approach.

Unannounced transits are understandable as carriers test the water, but they can be tricky for both shippers and ports if the ships and containers suddenly arrive a week earlier than planned.

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