Maersk Line has sent ships through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait for the first time in three months. This is due to a shortage of available tonnage coupled with high charter rates.
According to the container shipping consultancy Linerlytica, the 7,154-TEU “Santa Catarina Maersk” and the 8,648-TEU “Clementine Maersk” are the first vessels operated by the Danish liner company to have been deployed through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait again since 1 March.
On 4 June, the “Santa Catarina Maersk” passed through the Suez Canal during a positioning voyage from China to the Mediterranean. On 13 June, the “Clementine Maersk” completed a westbound passage through the Suez Canal on its voyage from Salalah to New York as part of Maersk Line’s Middle East–India to East Coast US (MECL) service.
In December 2025, Maersk had announced that it would return the MECL service to the Suez route. However, following the outbreak of the war in Iran on 28 February, the shipping company reversed this decision.
The Danish liner shipping company also operates two further southbound services via the Suez Canal: the Asia-Mediterranean-Red Sea service Se4/AE19 and the Mediterranean-Red Sea service ‘JD1’. However, both services turn back at Jeddah and do not pass through the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb. They are operated jointly with Hapag-Lloyd as part of the ‘Gemini’ cooperation network.
According to Linerlytica, Maersk Line is not the only major liner operator to resume Suez Canal transits.
“The tight market has prompted CMA CGM, which is planning additional ad hoc transits through the Suez Canal, to deploy further vessels on the Suez route – in addition to the five services that already pass through the Suez Canal on a regular basis. As container ships remain in short supply and charter rates continue to rise, some shipping lines may be tempted to resume transit voyages through the Red Sea,” says Linerlytica.
