Shipping giant Maersk said on Tuesday that it was close to resuming shipping through the Suez Canal almost two years after terrorist attacks from the Iran-backed Houthi insurgents of Yemen forced many transport companies to avoid the route through the Red Sea that leads to the canal.
Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc said no firm date has been set for the company’s ships to resume navigation through the Suez Canal, but it would begin “as soon as conditions allow.”
Maersk said there has been “significant progress” on establishing peace in the Middle East, so the company looks forward to taking steps to “resume navigation and over time normalize the transits on this route,” but it was not yet ready to announce a date.
Clerc said the safety of ship crews remains the “top priority” for Maersk.
Clerc’s statement, delivered at a joint press conference with Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Chairman Adm. Osama Rabie in Egypt, contradicted an SCA press release that stated Maersk ships would resume sailing through the canal in December.
The SCA said traffic through the canal began rising in October after President Donald Trump unveiled his 20-point peace plan for Gaza. The Houthis began attacking international shipping in the Red Sea with drones, missiles, and pirate boats in 2024 to support the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas during the Gaza war.
On November 10, the Houthis signaled they would halt their attacks on shipping — which they referred to as a “ban on Israeli navigation in the Red and Arabian Seas,” even though their attacks were by no means limited to Israeli ships. No attacks on shipping have occurred since the Gaza ceasefire took effect on October 10.
Many of the Houthi attacks took place in the Bab-el-Mandeb, the strait between Yemen and Djibouti that links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, and then the Suez Canal. Maersk largely stopped trying to move ships through the Red Sea in December 2023, and in January 2024 it officially suspended operations through the Suez Canal, opting to use the much longer and more expensive route around Africa.
Rabie said during the press conference on Tuesday that the Suez Canal is “fully prepared to receive vessels and restore services to normal levels.” The SCA signed an expanded partnership agreement with Maersk on Tuesday.
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