Commercial traffic through the Suez Canal remains stuck in the geopolitical crisis, although the first signs of a partial turnaround are emerging in the containership sector.
According to the latest MDS Transmodal report for May, cargo traffic along Egypt’s waterway remains severely reduced, despite an increase in the overall capacity of the fleet operating on this route.
In May, only 129 container ships crossed the Canal: a sharp drop of 76% compared with the same month in 2023, and a slight decline even compared with the 133 ships recorded in April. These figures confirm that major shipping companies continue to overwhelmingly prefer circumnavigating Africa and using alternative routes, keeping commercial traffic through the Suez Canal well below historical levels.
The most important news of the month, however, regards the composition of the fleets. Total operating capacity has in fact skyrocketed to 791,000 TEUs (compared with 620,000 in April), due to the return of the mega boxships. The maximum size of ships has risen to 23,104 TEUs, compared with 16,204 in April.
This increase in capacity suggests that some shipping companies are beginning, on a very selective basis, to test the Suez route with their largest vessels. However, analysts are cautious about getting enthusiastic: overall volumes remain extremely low, and a mass return of container services through the Canal still seems a long way off.
Translation by Giles Foster
