Danish shipping giant Maersk to return to Red Sea shipping route, schedule shows

Denmark’s Maersk will sail almost all container vessels traveling between Asia and Europe through the Suez Canal from now on while diverting only a handful around Africa, the group’s schedule now shows.

A detailed breakdown shows that while Maersk had diverted 26 of its own ships around the Cape of Good Hope in the last 10 days or so to avoid attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis in the Red Sea, only five more were scheduled to start the same journey.

By contrast, more than 50 Maersk vessels are set to go via Suez in the coming weeks, the company’s schedule shows.

Major shipping companies, including container giants Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, stopped using Red Sea routes and the Suez Canal earlier this month after the Houthis in Yemen began targeting vessels, disrupting global trade.

Instead, they rerouted ships around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope to avoid attacks, charging customers extra fees and adding days or weeks to the time it takes to transport goods from Asia to Europe and to the east coast of North America.