Feature, Freight News, Logistics, Sea

Suez Experiment Approaches Its Litmus Test

[ October 9, 2026   //   Gary Burrows ]

The Suez experiment is approaching its litmus test.

After more than two years of trial voyages, security assessments and cautious rerouting, container lines are beginning to move entire service strings back through the Red Sea and Suez Canal.

The latest shift comes from the Gemini Cooperation, where Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd are returning four additional services to Suez, joining two already using the route. But Gemini is only part of a broader migration as MSC, OCEAN Alliance and Premier Alliance progressively restore routes abandoned during the Red Sea crisis.

For carriers, the variables remain considerable: security, insurance, fuel consumption, transit times, schedule reliability and the ability to protect crews and vessels. What has changed is the scale of the experiment.

Gemini’s AE5 Asia-North Europe, AE11 and AE12 Asia-Mediterranean and ME2 India-Europe services are transitioning from Cape of Good Hope routing to Suez. They join the AE15 and AE19 services already using the canal.

The first westbound Suez sailings on AE11 and ME2 departed Sept. 19, followed by AE5 Sept. 21. Maersk said the changes should provide more efficient transit times between Asia and Europe, although the carriers continue to stress that the phased shift does not represent a wholesale return of the Gemini network to the Red Sea.

MSC also has restored selected East-West services through Suez, while CMA CGM and its OCEAN Alliance partners have progressively returned services, particularly on eastbound voyages. Premier Alliance, which had continued routing its main Asia-Europe network around the Cape, is beginning its own return this month on Southeast Asia-North Europe and India-North Europe services.

The shift is becoming increasingly significant in aggregate. Linerlytica estimates more than 2 million TEUs of containership capacity has structurally switched from Cape of Good Hope routing to Suez since May, while late September produced the highest weekly number of large containership transits through the canal since 2024.

That still leaves substantial capacity sailing around southern Africa, and carriers continue to emphasize that individual Red Sea transits remain subject to security assessments. The return to Suez is therefore less a flip of the switch than a progressive recalibration of global networks.

The implications also extend beyond Asia-Europe.

Restored Suez routing is shortening transit times between India and the U.S. East Coast. The Georgia Ports Authority said Maersk’s return of its MECL service through Suez has reduced transit time between Nhava Sheva and Savannah by 10 to 14 days, to 28 days. CMA CGM’s INDAMEX service also has returned to the canal on its India-U.S. East Coast rotation.

For shippers, those savings begin to change the routing equation. For carriers, they provide another measure of whether the operational and economic advantages of Suez can again outweigh the security risks that sent vessels around the Cape in the first place.

After two years in the laboratory, the results are beginning to come in.

Return To Suez: Where Carriers Stand

Gemini Cooperation – Maersk/Hapag-Lloyd: Six service strings are now committed to Suez. AE15 and AE19 were already using the route; AE5, AE11, AE12 and ME2 are transitioning from Cape routing. Gemini says the move remains service-specific rather than a full-network return.

MSC: Selected East-West services have returned, including Jade, Albatros, Himalaya and Tiger. Cape routing remains part of the carrier’s contingency network.

OCEAN Alliance – CMA CGM/COSCO/OOCL/Evergreen: Progressive restoration is underway. Several Asia-Europe FAL services have returned to Suez, particularly eastbound, while other services and westbound legs continue around the Cape.

Premier Alliance – ONE/HMM/Yang Ming: The alliance begins returning services this month. FE1 Southeast Asia-North Europe and IOX/INX India-North Europe are switching to Suez in both directions.

India-U.S. East Coast: Suez routing is also returning on services including Maersk’s MECL and CMA CGM’s INDAMEX, cutting transit times between the Indian subcontinent and U.S. East Coast gateways.

Tags: Gemini Cooperation, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk, MSC, Ocean Alliance, Premier Alliiance