Maersk put 67 vessels through the Suez Canal in September, according to a figure its regional representative gave the Suez Canal Authority on 23 September. In September 2025 the number was eight. CMA CGM reported 60 transits over the same month, and the Authority says Yang Ming and OOCL are preparing moves of their own.
If your Asia-Europe arrival plan still treats Cape routing as the baseline, that baseline is getting less reliable every week. A switch between Cape and Suez routing can move discharge dates by around two weeks on many Asia-Europe sailings, although the difference varies by service. With Golden Week blank sailings layered on top, the vessel your container actually rides may not be the one it was booked on.
Where Each Carrier Stands After the 23 September Meeting
| Carrier | Latest data point | Who said it |
|---|---|---|
| Maersk | 67 Suez transits in September 2026, up from 8 in September 2025 | Maersk regional representative, at the SCA meeting |
| CMA CGM | 60 vessels through the canal in September | CMA CGM Egypt and Sudan CEO, at the SCA meeting |
| COSCO | 3 more affiliated vessels scheduled to transit, following the OOCL Portugal on 16 September | COSCO general manager, at the SCA meeting |
| OOCL | Intends to return, with an experimental transit expected in October | Suez Canal Authority |
| Yang Ming | Seriously considering a return in the near future | Suez Canal Authority; no Yang Ming customer advisory yet |
Yang Ming is the row to watch. Our carrier-by-carrier status from 22 September listed the Premier Alliance on Cape routing with no own-service return announced, apart from slots on MSC’s Tiger service. A Yang Ming return would change that answer for its own strings. For now the signal comes from the Authority’s account of the meeting, and Yang Ming has not confirmed it to customers.
Maersk has framed its own moves as partial. The carrier called its targeted service changes a measured step toward a gradual return and said they do not restore its full East-West network through the canal.
The Canal-Wide Count
The Suez Canal Authority counted 1,358 vessel transits in August, up 27% from 1,070 a year earlier. Net tonnage rose 51.1% to 68.3 million tons, while canal revenue reached $567.1 million, up from $326 million a year earlier.
Those totals cover every vessel type, so the 27% is a canal-wide figure. Tonnage grew faster than the vessel count, which points to larger ships in the returning mix.
For container ships, FreightWaves puts the pre-crisis baseline at roughly 80 transits a week, down to 26 a week by mid-January 2026. Drewry’s weekly count rose from 41 transits in week 37 to 48 in week 38. The two counts come from different sources and may not cover the same vessel set. Read together, they show a recovery climbing toward pre-crisis levels without having reached them.
Why the Med Is Feeling It First
| Lane | Latest spot rate | Weekly change | Against the July peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asia-Mediterranean | About $3,900/FEU | Down 7% | Down from over $7,000/FEU; back to roughly May levels |
| Asia-North Europe | About $3,700/FEU | Down 15% | Down from nearly $6,000/FEU; still about $1,000/FEU above late-May levels |
Freightos attributes the sharper Mediterranean retreat to a larger gain in effective capacity on that lane as vessels resume Red Sea transits. North Europe is held back by congestion at regional hubs and by inland disruption, including low water on the Rhine.
For North Europe-bound cargo, that means a faster sea leg arriving into hubs with less room to absorb it. We covered the inland side in Rotterdam and Antwerp D&D Risk Rises as Rhine Water Levels Fall. Labour is the next variable. The Verdi union is voting on port strike action that could begin as early as October.
What the Pace Means for Arrival Planning
The per-sailing checks from 22 September still apply, and they now need re-running more often. In the three days after that post, two more carriers entered the conversation and COSCO scheduled three more transits. A routing snapshot taken last week is already missing rows.
Golden Week adds a second source of movement. Drewry counts seven Asia-Europe blank sailings announced for next week, up from three this week. When a sailing is blanked, affected cargo may be rolled to a later vessel. On networks where Suez and Cape routings coexist, that replacement sailing may also have a different routing from the one originally booked.
That combination is where arrival plans can break without warning. A container can be rolled and rerouted within the same planning window, while a service-level advisory may not tell you what happened to that individual booking.
If your team is catching those changes by re-reading carrier advisories sailing by sailing, see how ops teams get alerted when a container’s ETA moves after a rollover or routing switch.
What to Watch Through Mid-October
- OOCL: the experimental Suez transit the Authority expects in October.
- Yang Ming: a customer advisory confirming routing on its own strings. Until one appears, treat the return as unconfirmed.
- COSCO: the three additional affiliated transits it has scheduled.
- Golden Week, 1 to 7 October: which Asia-Europe sailings are blanked and which vessel your rolled cargo lands on.
- Verdi strike vote: any action at German ports, which could start as early as October.
Further Reading
- Yang Ming and OOCL eye Suez Canal return as carrier traffic increases
- New data shows Suez route transits rose 27% in August
- Suez transits weigh on container freight rates
- But no pandemic high: Asia-US container rate at $9,600
Sourcing note. Maersk, CMA CGM and COSCO figures, and the OOCL and Yang Ming positions, are from a Suez Canal Authority meeting with shipping lines on 23 September 2026, as reported by Container News. September counts were given before the month ended. The Yang Ming position reflects the Authority’s account and not a carrier announcement. August canal totals are Suez Canal Authority figures covering all vessel types, and the container ship baselines of roughly 80 and 26 weekly transits are as reported by FreightWaves. Maersk’s description of its service changes is from the same FreightWaves report. Weekly transit counts and blank sailing numbers are from Drewry’s World Container Index commentary of 24 September 2026, as reported by TrasportoEuropa. Spot rates are Freightos data as reported by FreightWaves on 24 September 2026. The approximate two-week Cape versus Suez difference is a planning range that varies by service and vessel speed. Confirm routing and transit times against your own carrier advisories before acting.
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