SUEZ CANAL AUTHORITY URGES CONTAINER LINES TO RESUME TRANSITS

The Suez Canal Authority has held talks with major shipping lines in an effort to restore container traffic through the Red Sea route linking Europe and Asia.

 

Admiral Ossama Rabiee, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, met with the representatives of 20 shipping lines and shipping agencies to discuss developments in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb region.

 
"We invite all shipping lines to conduct trial voyages of their container ships through the Suez Canal," the Authority said in a statement released after the meeting, a part of a series of periodic talks held with its clients to consult on sailing plans and schedules for the coming period.
 

For nearly two years, major container lines and other shipping companies have rerouted vessels around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. With the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas holding, Houthi forces have halted their assaults on commercial shipping in the region.

 

The Authority said 229 vessels returned to transit through the Suez Canal during October, the highest monthly rate of returning vessels since the beginning of the crisis.

 

Admiral Ossama Rabiee noted that vessel traffic through the Suez Canal from July to October 2025 rose slightly compared to the same period in 2024. The canal saw 4,405 transits totaling 185 million tons, up from 4,332 vessels and 167.6 million tons the previous year.

 
He then urged shipping agencies to reassure shipping lines and encourage them to resume transiting through the Suez Canal and commended the French shipping line CMA CGM in resuming transit of two of its giant container ships, each with a cargo capacity exceeding 170,000 tons.
 

Tariq Zaghloul, CEO of CMA CGM's Egypt & Sudan cluster, described the Suez Canal as a key factor in the company’s shift from regional operations to broader global activity, highlighting its longstanding ties with the canal authority.

 

He reiterated the group's reliance on the Suez Canal and said vessel traffic through the waterway is expected to grow as CMA CGM expands its fleet and shipping activity.