Liner network specialization reshapes container shipping
October 15, 2026
On 19 November 2023, Houthi rebels hijacked the car carrier GALAXY LEADER in the southern Red Sea, marking the start of their campaign against merchant shipping in response to the armed conflict in Gaza.
As the third anniversary of the event that set off the large-scale diversion of container shipping around the Cape of Good Hope approaches, Alphaliner has surveyed the routings used by the Top-10 carriers on the Far East – Europe trade from 15 September to 15 October 2026.
Over this period, containerships transiting the Red Sea were observed on 24 of the 46 direct services operated by these carriers between the Far East and Europe.
In capacity terms, services with ships routed via the Red Sea now account for 70% of all tonnage deployment on the Far East – Mediterranean trade and 58% on Far East – North Europe.
Overall, 5.50 Mteu (63%) of the 8.70 Mteu deployed on Far East – Europe sits on loops whose vessels sail through the Red Sea.
It is worth emphasising, however, that most carriers are gradually reverting their networks. Typically, some loops sail through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait westbound but still return to Asia via the Cape of Good Hope.
Want to see how the top carriers like MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM, COSCO SHIPPING, Hapag-Lloyd, Evergreen, and ZIM performed individually against this backdrop?
Source: Alphaliner
