A Hapag-Lloyd container ship with a capacity of nearly 15,000 TEUs recently passed through the Bab el-Mandeb, entered the Red Sea, and transited the Suez Canal en route to the Mediterranean. The voyage marks a rare recent Suez transit by a Hapag-Lloyd vessel and has raised renewed questions over whether Asia–Europe services are beginning to scale back diversions around the Cape of Good Hope. However, this remains a one-off routing arrangement and should not be viewed as a full resumption of Hapag-Lloyd’s Red Sea services.

Key Highlights 

• Suez transit: The 14,993 TEU container ship Al Jmeliyah transited the Suez Canal on September 4. 

• Service deployment: The vessel is deployed on the SE1/AE2 Asia–Mediterranean service jointly operated by Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk. 

• Temporary arrangement: The transit remains a temporary routing decision, while some other Gemini sailings continue to divert around the Cape of Good Hope.

Hapag-Lloyd 15,000 TEU Ship Transits the Suez Canal

According to Seatrade Maritime, Hapag-Lloyd’s 14,993 TEU container ship Al Jmeliyah recently passed through the Bab el-Mandeb and entered the Red Sea before transiting the Suez Canal on September 4 and continuing toward the Mediterranean.

AIS data showed that the vessel had previously called at Yangshan and Tanjung Pelepas. It is currently deployed on the SE1/AE2 Asia–Mediterranean service jointly operated by Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk.

The size of the vessel makes the transit particularly notable. At nearly 15,000 TEUs, Al Jmeliyah is a large mainline container ship making actual use of the traditional Bab el-Mandeb–Red Sea–Suez Canal route between Asia and Europe. Compared with a diversion around the Cape of Good Hope, the Suez route can shorten the voyage and improve vessel turnaround. However, a single transit does not mean that the entire service has returned to Suez routing. Linerlytica said the voyage remained a temporary adjustment, while some other Gemini sailings continue to divert around the Cape of Good Hope.

Why Are Carriers Reassessing Suez Canal Routing?

Over the past few years, many Asia–Europe liner services have diverted around the Cape of Good Hope because of security risks in the Red Sea. While these diversions reduce the risks associated with passing directly through the Red Sea, they also substantially extend voyages and round-trip times, requiring additional capacity to maintain existing service frequencies.

At the same time, global port congestion continues to absorb substantial container shipping capacity. Linerlytica data showed that more than four million TEUs of capacity are currently tied up by port congestion.

Against this backdrop, selected sailings could return to the Suez route if security conditions permit. This would shorten voyages, improve vessel utilization, and release some of the effective capacity absorbed by longer diversions. The recent limited use of the Suez route by Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk suggests that the carriers are reassessing the balance between security conditions and fleet efficiency, rather than preparing for an immediate full resumption of Red Sea services.

How Could More Suez Transits Affect Asia–Europe Shipping?

If Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk, and other major carriers continue to increase Suez Canal transits, voyage lengths and schedules could be among the first changes on Asia–Europe services. If vessels no longer routinely divert around the Cape of Good Hope, transit times could shorten, the same fleet could provide more effective capacity, and carriers could adjust capacity deployment and schedules on some services.

Over the medium to long term, an increase in effective capacity could also place some downward pressure on Asia–Europe freight rates. However, the current transit does not indicate that freight rates on the Asia–Europe trades will fall immediately or that Red Sea services have fully resumed.

Shippers with cargo moving from Asia to Europe should monitor whether one-off transits develop into regular service patterns and whether booked shipments are affected by changes to routing, schedules, or port calls. A single Suez Canal transit is only an initial signal. Sustained transits by more vessels across more services will be needed before a genuine return to Red Sea routing can be confirmed.

Sources and Disclaimer 

Sources include Seatrade Maritime, Linerlytica, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk, and publicly available shipping information. This article is provided solely for reference by the international logistics and freight forwarding industry. Specific routing and operational arrangements remain subject to the latest notices issued by the relevant authorities and carriers.