Splash247: Shipping tests the Red Sea again

Shipping is still very cautious about a wholesale fleet pivot back to the Suez Canal, but ship trackers are keeping a firm eye on a couple of vessels tiptoeing back to a region that has been off limits for many thanks to the Houthis from Yemen campaign against merchant shipping in support of Palestinians in Gaza. 

French containerline CMA CGM is sending two 17,859 sister ships, the CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin and the CMA CGM Zheng He, from Europe to Asia via the Suez on the Ocean Alliance’s NEU4 service, marking the first alliance service return to the Red Sea since the end of 2023. 

Meanwhile, the sanctioned Russian LNG tanker, Arctic Metagaz, currently in the Gulf of Aden heading west, is also a vessel that ship trackers are keeping an eye on. The 138,028 cu m vessel is likely to be the first LNG carrier to transit the Suez in eight months. 

Another sanctioned Russian ship, the 21-year-old Komander, an aframax, made headlines in the Suez earlier this week. The crude oil tanker experienced engine trouble and briefly ran aground on Tuesday near the 48 km mark of the canal.

A tentative ceasefire between Israel and Hamas reached at the start of the month has led to speculation that more ships might return to the Red Sea. The Houthis have long justified their strikes on commercial vessels as solidarity with Palestinians — over 100 attacks since late 2023. 

Ship operators and insurers will now be watching carefully to see if the militant group scales back operations in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, as previous conditional pauses were tied to earlier Gaza ceasefires. There have been no Houthi attacks on ships so far this month, but Israel has resumed attacks in Gaza.

Egypt, meanwhile, has said it is developing plans for the resumption of trade through the Suez Canal.