Shipping Giant Maersk stated that one of its ships, Maersk Sebarok, sailed across the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb for the first time in almost 2 years, as shipping companies plan to resume their operations on the major trade route.

Though Maersk does not plan to fully reopen the route, it was considering a stepwise approach to gradually reopen navigation via the Suez Canal and the Red Sea.

However, it has not revealed any plans regarding the same.

Maersk and other shipping companies, such as Hapag Lloyd, had rerouted their fleets around the Cape of Good Hope from December 2023, after Houthi attacks disrupted shipping in the Red Sea, stating the actions were to prevent Israel from bombing Gaza and in solidarity with the Palestinian People.

The return of Maersk could send ripples through the industry, where freight rates have drastically increased as ships had to take a much longer route, adding weeks to the transit time between Asia and Europe.

The ceasefire in Gaza has led to hopes that shipping might return to its normal levels as Houthis have stopped attacking vessels in the region.

Although it is a major step forward, that does not mean we can consider reverting to a broad East-West network change, such as the trans-Suez Corridor, Maersk added.

Niels Rasmussen, chief shipping analyst at BIMCO, said that if normal shipping traffic resumes in the strategic route, then ship demand would decrease by 10%.

The possibility of a return to Suez Canal routings looms large over the market outlook, he added.

French Container Shipping Company CMA CGM, which has made a few Suez Crossings, will now utilise the passage for its India-US INDAMEX service from January, according to sources.