Maersk to Resume Sailing Through Red Sea

By Dominic Chopping

Maersk will resume sailing through the Red Sea and Suez Canal following improved stability in the area, but said it will continue to monitor the Middle East security situation closely.

The Danish shipping company said Thursday that after successfully navigating the route twice in recent weeks it will now restart a shipping service solely operated by it that connects the Middle East and India with the U.S. east coast.

The service will remain dependent on the ongoing stability in the Red Sea area and the absence of any escalation in conflicts in the region, it said.

The Suez Canal is a key maritime corridor, offering the fastest and most efficient route between Asia and Europe. But container-shipping operators have spent more than two years avoiding the region after Houthi militants in Yemen began attacking ships traversing the area following the October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel and subsequent military action by Israel in Gaza.

However, a cease-fire in Gaza was agreed in October and the Trump administration is now pressing ahead with its peace plan that will move from halting the conflict to governing and rebuilding the territory.

When hostilities began, operators were forced to divert their cargo ships to longer routes around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, creating a shortage of vessels while inflating freight rates. At the same time, analysts have long cautioned that when the route opens to increased traffic, operators will likely have a glut of vessels in the water which will see freight rates come under pressure.

Maersk shares fell 7.5% in afternoon trade Thursday while shares in German peer Hapag-Lloyd were 3.9% lower.

Maersk said it has contingency plans in place should the security situation deteriorate, which may necessitate reverting individual sailings or the wider service back to the Cape of Good Hope route.

The first sailing on the service will be a westbound trans-Suez voyage departing Dubai on Thursday.

Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 15, 2026 07:39 ET (12:39 GMT)