Container Shipping Returns to Suez Despite Rising Red Sea Risks

Container shipping’s return to the Suez Canal is gathering pace, even as fighting around the southern entrance to the Red Sea is moving in the opposite direction.

The 24,188-TEU OOCL Portugal transited the Suez Canal on Wednesday on a voyage from Belgium to China, marking what the Suez Canal Authority described as COSCO SHIPPING Lines’ first southbound passage through the canal since the Red Sea security crisis began. 

The nearly 400-meter vessel operates on Ocean Alliance’s NEU2 service connecting the Far East and Northwest Europe.

For Egypt, the passage is another sign that the container sector is beginning to rebuild its presence