Suez Canal ship transits down 60% over 2023 Even though shipping companies returned to Suez Canal after Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced an end to vessel-related attacks, stakeholders have remained cautious

 

Ship sailings via Suez Canal are 60 per cent lower compared to the figure in 2023, but normalisation of the Red Sea appears more likely compared to past two years, an analysis by global shipping organisation BIMCO shows.

The last attack on a cargo ship in Gulf of Aden occurred on September 29, 2025. Subsequently, in November, the Houthi rebels of Yemen announced an end to all attacks on ships. Since then, shipping companies are taking cautious steps in using the Red Sea route. 

On December 19, 2025, a Maersk-owned ship used the Red Sea route for the first time in two years. French container line CMA CGM is also increasing its transits with ships making port calls at Malta and Port Said.

However, overall Suez Canal transits in first week of January were 60 per cent lower compared to first week of 2023, said Niels Rasmussen, chief shipping analyst at BIMCO.

Alternate route

While the safety of crew, ship and cargo remains paramount, recent reductions in Red Sea war risk premiums may encourage more ships to revert to Suez Canal routings. In early December, S&P Global reported that premiums fell to 0.2 per cent of hull values, the lowest since November 2023 and down from 0.5 per cent before the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

“A normalisation of ship transits now appears more likely than at any point during the last two years, but it remains unknown if and how fast this may happen,” Rasmussen said.

According to him, a return to Suez Canal would reduce shipping companies’ costs significantly, but also hurt ship demand. “A full normalisation is estimated to reduce container ship demand by approximately 10 per cent while other sectors could see 2-3 per cent reductions,” he said.