Suez Is Back to 1,090 Transits a Month. Jeddah Calls Are Not.

Overview

MSC's 24 August advisory was specific. Four services: Jade and Tiger on Asia–Mediterranean, Albatros on Asia–North Europe, and Himalaya on India–Mediterranean. Five vessels in the first wave — MSC Michel Cappellini, MSC Josefina, MSC Anna, MSC Tina and MSC Beryl — and more than 90,000 TEU of capacity across the first five sailings.

Others moved earlier or in parallel. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd switched the Gemini AE19 string from the Cape back to Suez with effect from 10 August. CMA CGM restored selected eastbound FAL3 sailings from 22 July. Linerlytica counted 15 CMA CGM transits and 11 Maersk transits by 1 September, with Wan Hai and COSCO adding sailings.

The one worth watching is Himalaya. India to the Mediterranean never made sense around Africa — the direct Suez routing is a far bigger saving for Indian cargo than it is for cargo out of China or Southeast Asia. If you move textiles, pharmaceuticals or chemicals out of Nhava Sheva or Mundra, that string is the one that changes your arithmetic.

Key Details

Here's the thing. The real figure is 1,090 transits in the four weeks ending 20 August. That is the highest four-week total since 2024, up from 1,070 in the prior window and roughly 14% above the 946 average recorded between January and mid-June this year.

And here is the one that keeps it in perspective: traffic is still about 41% below pre-crisis levels. Recovery is real. It is nowhere near done.

Why carriers went back is not a security story, it is a capacity story. The Cape diversion has been absorbing 5% to 7% of global container capacity — call it 1.7 million to 2.4 million TEU — while Asian ports are sitting on roughly 4.3 million TEU of boxes, above the pandemic peak. They did not go back because it got safe. They went back because they ran out of ships.

Looking Ahead

This is the part most shippers get wrong. The catch is that a vessel can pass through the canal and still not call at a Red Sea port. Right now, almost every direct Red Sea service is suspended except CMA CGM. Jeddah is badly congested; several lines cannot get a berth and are simply stretching the rotation.

Rates into Jeddah have gone past five figures. Some vessels already sailed have been switched to King Abdullah Port or Jizan — and those two are 100 km from Jeddah. That is not a schedule change, that is an inland haul you did not budget for.

Cargo routed via Port Klang is also tighter than it looks. Jeddah allocation through the transshipment path is limited and the premium on it is rising.

So do not ask your forwarder whether the vessel goes through Suez. Ask three other questions: does it call at my port, on what date, and at which terminal. Get those wrong and you are 100 km and three days out, and you will be the one explaining it to your consignee.

Implications

If you ship India–Mediterranean: rebuild your transit estimates. Himalaya no longer runs around Africa, so you are looking at roughly 10 to 15 sailing days back on the rotation. Move your ETA forward — but only if your box is on a direct call, not a transshipment.

If you ship Asia–North Europe or Asia–Mediterranean: do not rush to book. Capacity released by shorter voyages lands on these trades first, and rates here were already falling — the SCFI printed Europe down 2.69% and the Mediterranean down 3.23% in the week to 4 September. This is a contract-negotiation window, not a spot-booking window.

If you ship to Jeddah, Sokhna or Aqaba: plan as if nothing has restarted. Do not quote a recovery timetable to your buyer. Every carrier advisory still carries the phrase phased implementation with the option to revert sailing by sailing, and the threat in the Bab el-Mandeb corridor has not gone away.

Frankly, this is the one people skip: check which discharge port is actually on the booking confirmation. King Abdullah Port and Jizan are not Jeddah, and your inland rate is not the same.