Information updated on the official website of Danish shipping giant Maersk on Wednesday showed that,Dozens of cargo ships owned by the company will return to the Suez Canal and Red Sea routes in the next few weeks, marking a further cooling down of the Red Sea crisis that has aroused the attention of global financial markets in the past two weeks. Maersk also emphasized that what is listed today are only expectations for affected vessel diversions and contingency plans, and these expectations may also change based on specific contingency plans that may be formed in the coming days.


(Source: Maersk official website)

According to statistics, Maersk listed hundreds of cargo ships involved in Asia-Europe routes, Middle East routes, etc. in its announcement on Wednesday.Of these, 59 ships will continue to pass through the Suez Canal, while a further 95 ships will continue to circumnavigate the Cape of Good Hope.

According to Maersk’s announcement and shipping data, the first Maersk fleet to return to the Red Sea,It could arrive at the Suez Canal as soon as tomorrow. Maersk's MAREN cargo ship left the Port of Tangier in Morocco on the 24th, and shipping data expected the ship to arrive at the Port of Suez in Egypt on the 28th. If all goes well, Maersk expects the ship to arrive in Singapore on January 14.


(Route of cargo ship MAREN, source: vesselfinder)

Another cargo ship, the Maersk EBBA, which left the Port of Tangier on the 25th, is expected to arrive at the Suez Canal on the 29th and will arrive in Abu Dhabi on January 7 next year.


(EBBA cargo ship route, source: vesselfinder)

As the ship was "very nearly" attacked by Yemen's Houthi armed forces while passing through the Red Sea,Maersk announced on December 15 this year that it would suspend routes to the Suez Canal-Red Sea-Mandeb Strait. Later, on December 19, it ordered ships to detour to the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa, and notified customers that transportation time would be extended and freight rates would increase.

Before updating the progress today, Maersk also announced last Sunday (December 24) that it had received notification that "Operation Prosperity Guardian" had been established and deployed to allow cargo ships to travel to and from the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden, and the company would make plans for the first batch of ships to transit.

Similar to Maersk,France’s CMA CGM also said on Tuesday thatThe number of cargo ships passing through the Suez Canal will be gradually increased. Germany's Hapag-Lloyd, which was directly attacked by the Houthi armed forces before, said on Wednesday,The current situation on the Red Sea route is still too dangerous and the company will continue to circumnavigate the Cape of Good Hope. The next assessment is likely to be carried out on Friday.

In the financial market, as large shipping companies have returned to the Suez Canal one after another, shipping stocks have shown decline in the past two days. As Maersk confirmed its return to the Red Sea route on Wednesday, international oil prices also saw a slight plunge.


(Daily chart of Brent oil, source: Tradingview)