Maersk, Hapag Try Again to Return to Suez-Red Sea Route

Second Attempt at Red Sea Return in 2026

Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, partners in the Gemini Cooperation, have agreed to shift one of their joint services back through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. According to a report by The Maritime Executive, this marks the second time this year the two carriers have tried to restore transits through the region after previously suspending them.

The route selected for the restart connects Asia, the Mediterranean, and Turkey. Maersk has named the 19,000 TEU, Danish-flagged Majestic Maersk as the first vessel to make the transit, with AIS tracking and published schedules showing the ship departing Malaysia and expected to reach the Suez Canal around July 24.

Why the Carriers Are Moving Back

Maersk says the decision follows a detailed review of security conditions in the Red Sea, and that the Suez routing remains the fastest, most efficient, and most sustainable option for serving customers compared with the longer Cape of Good Hope alternative. At the same time, the company has been careful to stress that the situation remains fluid: it will keep monitoring conditions and retains contingency plans that could see individual sailings — or the entire service — diverted back around Africa if needed.

A History of False Starts

This is not the first attempt. Encouraged by the Suez Canal Authority, Maersk ran initial test voyages through the canal and southern Red Sea in November and December 2025 — its first return to that stretch of water since vessels came under fire from Houthi forces in late 2023. By January 2026, Maersk had begun restoring some independent Suez routings, and the following month the Gemini Cooperation with Hapag-Lloyd announced its own return to the region.

That resumption proved short-lived. Renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran at the end of February 2026 forced both carriers to suspend Red Sea transits again, underscoring how quickly security conditions in the corridor can deteriorate even after a period of calm.

Scale of What’s at Stake

The Suez Canal Authority has noted that Maersk alone made 1,158 transits carrying a combined 127 million tons of net cargo in 2023, before the diversions began — a figure that illustrates how much volume, and how much canal revenue, has shifted to the longer Cape route over the past two-plus years. The Authority has also said it views Maersk as a bellwether, expecting other major carriers to follow once the line demonstrates a durable return. So far, CMA CGM has been the main large container carrier maintaining a presence through the region, while other major fleets have been slower to come back.

What It Means for Owners and Managers

For ship owners, managers, and charterers, this on-again, off-again pattern is itself the operative fact. A single flare-up in the region — as seen with the US-Iran hostilities in February — can undo months of route planning within days, meaning voyage plans, bunker arrangements, and crewing rotations built around a Suez transit need built-in flexibility to revert to Cape routing on short notice. Vessels making these southbound Red Sea transits after long absences also warrant closer pre-voyage attention: condition surveys, hull and machinery checks, and cargo hold inspections take on added importance when ships are returning to a corridor associated with elevated operational risk, ensuring that any deferred maintenance or wear from extended Cape rotations doesn’t go unnoticed as trading patterns shift again. Owners and charterers alike would be well served by treating this as a transitional period rather than a settled return, keeping independent survey and inspection support in place to verify vessel condition and cargo integrity whichever route a ship ultimately takes.

Reviewed by Ibrahim Halil Ceylan, Marine Surveyor at Apeks Marine.