File Photo: Ships passing through the Suez canal. Photo courtesy of SCA.
In a statement, the company said the move follows assessments of the security situation in the Red Sea and marks a step toward a gradual return to the Suez Canal corridor for one of the Gemini Cooperation services.
The AE15 service connects Asia, the Mediterranean, and Europe. Under the revised rotation, the service will call at Qingdao, Kwangyang, Ningbo, Tanjung Pelepas, Port Said, Damietta, Colombo, and Singapore.
Maersk said the Suez Canal and Red Sea route remains the fastest and most efficient corridor for Asia-Europe transport, adding that the change would offer customers shorter transit times than the longer Cape of Good Hope route.
The decision comes as shipping companies continue to assess a return to the Suez Canal after vessels were diverted around Africa in recent years because of Red Sea attacks, which Yemen’s Houthis said were carried out in solidarity with Palestinians.
However, Maersk said any further changes within the Gemini Cooperation would depend on continued stability in the Red Sea area and the absence of further escalation in the Middle East.
The company said the safety of its crews, vessels, and customers' cargo remains its top priority. It added that contingency plans are in place should the security situation deteriorate, allowing individual sailings or the wider AE15 service to revert to the Cape of Good Hope route if necessary.
Maersk also said it has no current plans to alter other Gemini services and is not yet considering a full return of its East-West network to the Suez Canal route.
The decision by Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd comes as the Suez Canal shows signs of recovery after nearly two years of disruption caused by the Red Sea crisis.
In June, Suez Canal revenues rose 23 percent in fiscal year 2025/26 to $4.67 billion, while vessel transits increased 10 percent and cargo volumes rose 22 percent year-on-year, though all three remained below pre-disruption targets.
The recovery follows a sharp fall in canal receipts during the Red Sea crisis.
Suez Canal revenues fell to $4 billion in 2024 from $10.2 billion in 2023. The canal had previously registered a record $9.4 billion in FY2022/2023.
The waterway handles about 12 percent of global trade and is one of Egypt's main sources of foreign currency.
The AE15 decision also follows earlier signs that major shipping lines were cautiously returning to the Suez Canal.
In November 2025, Maersk said it would begin routing container ships through the canal again in early December under a strategic partnership agreement with the Suez Canal Authority (SCA).
SCA Chairman Osama Rabie said at the time that Maersk vessels made 1,158 transits through the Suez Canal in 2023 before the Red Sea crisis, carrying 127 million tons of cargo and generating $732.5 million in revenue.
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