Maersk to return to Red Sea route as soon as conditions allow, CEO says

DUBAI (Reuters) -Shipping group Maersk will take steps to resume navigation through the Red Sea via the Suez Canal as soon as conditions allow, CEO Vincent Clerc said on Tuesday.

The Suez Canal Authority said in a statement that Maersk container ships will resume transit via the canal on a partial basis from the beginning of December prior to a full return but a Maersk spokesperson said the company had not set a date.

The potential return of Maersk to the Suez Canal could ripple through the shipping sector, where freight rates have been supported by the route being snarled by regional conflict and attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

Maersk began diverting vessels away from the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea towards the southern tip of Africa in January 2024 after an attack on one of its ships by Yemen's Houthi militants, who attacked ships in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

SAFETY OF CREW TOP PRIORITY, CEO SAYS

The shipping group has been encouraged by the peace process in Gaza, which would establish freedom of navigation in the Bab al-Mandab strait that links the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, Clerc added at a joint press conference with Suez Canal Authority Chair Osama Rabie in Egypt. 

"Given the significant progress in both Gaza and Bab al-Mandab, Maersk will take steps to resume navigation around the East-West corridor via the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, and normalise transit over time," Clerc said.

Maersk will resume navigating via the Red Sea "as soon as conditions allow, with the safety of our crew as a top priority", Clerc added.

The Suez Canal Authority and Maersk signed a strategic partnership agreement during the press conference.

Suez Canal revenues rose 14.2% year-on-year between July and October, the canal authority said earlier this month, citing calmer conditions in the Red Sea following a ceasefire in Gaza and a pick-up in traffic through the vital waterway.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis launched more than 100 attacks on ships in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Bab al-Mandab Strait that links them in 2023 and 2024 in what they described as solidarity with Palestinians over Israel's war in Gaza, prompting many shippers to switch to alternative routes.

Events in the Red Sea and regional challenges cost Egypt around $7 billion in revenues from the Suez Canal in 2024.

(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah and Ahmed Elimam in Dubai, Yusri Mohamed in Cairo and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen in Copenhagen; Editing by David Goodman and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)