It is reported that the "CMA CGM Jacques Saade", one of the largest container ships in the world owned by the CMA CGM Group, has successfully completed its southbound passage through the Suez Canal on its voyage from Morocco to Malaysia. The vessel, which is 400 meters long and has a capacity of approximately 23,000 TEUs, is powered by LNG and is the largest container ship to pass through the Suez Canal in the past two years.

This development is of great significance for long-suffering Egypt. Ossama Rabiee, the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, said that the return of vessels from major shipping companies reflects the shipping market's renewed recognition of the safety and operational capacity of the Suez route, and is also the result of the authority's intensive communication and proactive marketing in recent times. 

Last month, Rabiee visited the "CMA CGM Jules Verne", a vessel of the CMA CGM Group, during its northbound passage. The ship, measuring 396 meters in length and with a capacity of 16,020 TEUs, was the largest container ship to pass through the Suez Canal since the outbreak of the Red Sea crisis.

From the perspective of shipping company strategies, CMA CGM Group has been notably more proactive. According to its latest schedule, CMA CGM Group plans to resume the Suez Canal route in the INDAMEX service between India and the United States starting from January 2026, becoming one of the first major liner companies to clearly outline a plan for regular operations. 

In contrast, Maersk remains cautious. The company stated that during the passage of the "Maersk Sebarok" through the Red Sea from December 18th to 19th, it took the "highest level of safety precautions", but there is no clear timetable for the full resumption of the Red Sea route yet. The company will proceed in a step-by-step and section-by-section assessment manner.

However, due to the lack of sufficient customer support, Hapag-Lloyd has postponed its plan to resume sailing via the Suez Canal on its India-US East Coast TPI route. The main reason is that customers still have concerns about war risk insurance, cost uncertainty, and overall risk exposure.

Over the past one year and a half, detouring around the Cape of Good Hope has been deeply integrated into the network design, capacity allocation and customer contracts by shipping companies. Even if the security situation continues to improve, the adjustment of shipping routes cannot be accomplished overnight. Instead, it depends on the rebalancing of multiple variables such as safety, insurance, freight rates and customer acceptance.