© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The world's first methanol-powered container ship, Laura Maersk, owned by shipping company Maersk, is seen in Copenhagen, Denmark, September 14, 2023. REUTERS/Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen/File Photo
By Louise Rasmussen
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Denmark's Maersk will sail almost all container ships traveling between Asia and Europe through the Suez Canal from now on, while diverting only a handful around Africa, a Reuters breakdown of the group calendar.
Major shipping companies, including container giants Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, stopped using the Red Sea and Suez Canal routes earlier this month after Yemen's Houthi militant group began attacking ships, disrupting the world trade.
Instead, they diverted ships through Africa via the Cape of Good Hope to avoid attacks, charging customers additional fees and adding days or weeks to the time it takes to transport goods from Asia to Europe and the east coast of North America. .
But on Dec. 24, Maersk said it was preparing a return to the Red Sea, citing the deployment of a U.S.-led military operation to protect the ships, and on Wednesday it released schedules showing the ships were heading to Suez in the next few weeks. weeks.
A detailed breakdown showed that while Maersk had diverted 26 of its own ships around the Cape of Good Hope in the past 10 days, only five more were scheduled to begin the same voyage.
By contrast, more than 50 Maersk ships will pass through Suez in the coming weeks, according to the company's schedule.
But Maersk said its alliance partner Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) continued to divert all MSC vessels through the Cape of Good Hope for the time being, regardless of the date or point of departure and the direction in which they were sailing.
MSC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hapag Lloyd said on Wednesday it still considered the situation too dangerous to pass through the Suez Canal, adding that it planned to review the situation on Friday.
The Suez Canal is used by about a third of the world's container ship cargo, and rerouting ships around the southern tip of Africa is expected to cost up to an additional $1 million in fuel for each round trip between Asia and the north Europe.
Among a handful of other third-party vessels in Maersk's alliance that would set sail in the coming weeks, two would be diverted around Africa while the rest would travel via Suez, according to the schedule.
All schedules remain subject to change based on specific contingency plans that may be formed in the coming days, Maersk said.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
