On 18-19 December, the Singapore-flagged vessel Maersk Sebarok, operating on Maersk’s MECL-service, transited the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Red Sea. This is exactly two years after Maersk that it would be re-routing its vessels around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope following Houthi attacks on ships in the region.
Maersk states it is closely monitoring developments and exploring opportunities for a safe and sustainable return to East-West Suez transit. With the safety of crew, vessels and cargo in mind, Maersk applied the highest possible safety measures during this first transit.
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Stepwise approach
Whilst this is a significant step forward, Maersk says the transit does not mean that the company is at a point where it is considering a wider East-West network change back to the trans-Suez corridor.
Assuming that security thresholds continue to be met, Maersk is considering continuing its stepwise approach towards gradually resuming navigation along the East-West corridor via the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. The first step is this initial sailing, followed by a limited number of additional trans-Suez sailings. However, there are no planned sailings currently.
Picture: A Maersk container ship at sea (Wikimedia Commons, public domain, CC0 1.0).
Also read: Maersk continues to re-route around Cape of Good Hope
