While last month saw a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and a Houthi announcement of limiting attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea, the situation for Container Ship traffic in the Suez Canal remains largely unchanged.
Most companies still remain cautious and have not immediately resumed Red Sea transits, prioritizing crew safety and assessing the stability of the ceasefire before making routing decisions.
Since mid-January, less than 45 Container Ships have crossed the Suez Canal in either direction per week. 77.6% of those were sub-Panamax Container vessels of less than 4,000 TEU capacity. Ships of this size continue setting their own records, with 130 vessels having crossed the Canal in January 2025 – the highest vessel count in a single month for this sub-fleet.
Conversely, Container Ships between 4,000 and 7,500 TEU have made only 12 crossings of the Suez Canal over the past 2 weeks, while 7 vessels of TEU capacity between 7,500 and 18,000 passed through the Suez Canal during the same period. Both counts are indicative of traffic for the respective fleet segments prior to the ceasefire taking effect.
ULCS Megamax Container Ships of 18,000 and more TEU capacity are still an extinct breed as far as Suez Canal traffic is concerned and we’re approaching a full year since the last vessel of this type traversed these waters in last March.
Alphaliner’s AXSInsights module allows you to monitor Canals’ traffic, as well as Cape of Good Hope reroutes, in as much detail as you need.
Source: Alphaliner
