Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd Return ME1 Service to Suez

Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will route their joint ME1 container service back through the Suez Canal from early November. The two carriers announced the change on 2 November, the latest step in a gradual return to the trans-Suez corridor since Red Sea attacks pushed most shipping around Africa in late 2023.

ME1 is the two companies' India-Europe service. It runs from Indian west-coast ports at Mundra and Nhava Sheva through to northern European destinations. The first westbound sailing under the new routing is the Atlanta Express, voyage 644W, departing Salalah on 4 November 2026. The first eastbound departure is the Savannah Express, voyage 644E, leaving Tangier on 12 or 13 November.

The Cape of Good Hope detour that ME1 and dozens of other services adopted in late 2023 added up to two weeks of transit time and around 6,000 nautical miles per roundtrip. Despite the return of several earlier services to Suez, Red Sea traffic in October remained below one-third of pre-2023 levels. Both companies say they will keep monitoring conditions; individual sailings or the whole service can revert to the Cape route if security worsens.

The ME1 return follows a July phase when Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd began routing some Gemini Cooperation services back through the canal. This expansion to the India-Europe run suggests the companies now see conditions as stable enough for a wider commitment. That cautious step-by-step approach mirrors how the broader market has responded to the surge in shipping capacity: container capacity on East-West trades hit record levels last week, driven partly by the extra tonnage added when ships rerouted around Africa.