SCA Meets Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk as Carriers Commit to Accelerated Suez Returns

Suez Canal Authority Chairman Ossama Rabiee held separate meetings with senior executives from Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk on 20–21 October 2026, with both carriers signalling accelerated returns to the waterway. Hapag-Lloyd said additional services are expected to resume Suez transits, joining two Asia-Europe services already operating via the canal. Maersk COO Rabab Boulos told the SCA that all Maersk services are expected to return to Suez by March 2027, affirming the canal remains the group's "optimal choice.

<p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The Suez Canal Authority has intensified its engagement with the world's largest container carriers, holding high-level meetings with Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk on 20–21 October 2026 that produced clear signals of an accelerating return to the waterway. The meetings, disclosed in SCA statements and reported by Zawya and Riviera Maritime Media, mark a turning point in the canal's recovery from the Red Sea crisis, with both carriers now committing to timelines that would have seemed improbable just months ago .<a href="https://www.zawya.com/en/business/hapag-lloyd-expects-more-shipping-services-to-return-to-suez-canal-1818295" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="1" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a><a href="https://www.rivieramm.com/lead-stories-brand/maersk-expects-full-return-to-suez-canal-by-march-2027-sca-says-90336" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="11" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Hapag-Lloyd's position was conveyed by Juan Pablo Richards, the carrier's Senior Managing Director for Region South Europe, during a meeting at the SCA headquarters in Ismailia. Richards said Hapag-Lloyd expects additional services to resume transits through the Suez Canal, joining two services already operating between Asia and Europe. He emphasised that the company is closely monitoring developments in the Red Sea and maritime safety indicators to guide changes to its sailing schedules as transits gradually resume through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Suez Canal .<a href="https://www.zawya.com/en/business/hapag-lloyd-expects-more-shipping-services-to-return-to-suez-canal-1818295" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="1" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The Maersk meeting, held via video conference, produced an even more definitive commitment. Chief Operating Officer Rabab Boulos told SCA Chairman Admiral Ossama Rabiee that all Maersk shipping services are expected to return to the Suez Canal by March 2027, affirming that the canal "remains the optimal choice for the group" . The statement provides the clearest timeline yet from a major carrier for full restoration of Suez routings, and it aligns with earlier projections from shipping consultancy Linerlytica that a full-scale return could be expected by the first quarter of 2027 .<a href="https://www.rivieramm.com/lead-stories-brand/maersk-expects-full-return-to-suez-canal-by-march-2027-sca-says-90336" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="11" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The SCA has been actively courting carriers with data demonstrating the canal's value. Rabiee presented figures showing that 276 Maersk-affiliated transits, with a combined net tonnage of 23 million tonnes, were recorded between the beginning of 2026 and the end of September. This compared with 146 transits and 7 million tonnes during the same period in 2025, a near-doubling of both vessel counts and tonnage that underscores the scale of Maersk's existing engagement with the canal even before the full return .<a href="https://www.rivieramm.com/lead-stories-brand/maersk-expects-full-return-to-suez-canal-by-march-2027-sca-says-90336" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="11" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Rabiee has also framed the canal's strategic importance in terms of savings for carriers. He highlighted how geopolitical tensions and their impact on fuel prices and freight rates have "proven the strategic importance of the Suez Canal and the savings it secures for mega container ships, as well as increasing navigational safety compared to navigating around the Cape of Good Hope" . The argument is commercial as much as geopolitical: the Suez route saves approximately two weeks of sailing and reduces fuel consumption, a material consideration when bunker costs remain elevated.<a href="https://www.rivieramm.com/lead-stories-brand/maersk-expects-full-return-to-suez-canal-by-march-2027-sca-says-90336" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="11" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The meetings also touched on areas of cooperation beyond transit operations. Richards identified an opportunity for the SCA's Maritime Training and Simulation Academy to work with the Damietta Alliance Container Terminal, also known as Tahya Misr 1, at Damietta Port on training for ship captains. Hapag-Lloyd is a major investor in the terminal, and the training collaboration would deepen the carrier's stake in Egyptian maritime infrastructure beyond the canal itself .<a href="https://www.zawya.com/en/business/hapag-lloyd-expects-more-shipping-services-to-return-to-suez-canal-1818295" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="1" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The broader context is a carrier landscape that is progressively returning to Suez. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, operating through the Gemini alliance, have already restored several services to the canal, including AE15 and AE19, with additional services transitioning from Cape routing in September and October. The Gemini partners now account for 1.76 million TEU of deployed capacity via Suez . Other carriers, including MSC, CMA CGM, COSCO, and OOCL, have also restored services, leaving Evergreen and ZIM as the only top-ten carriers yet to return.<a href="https://www.rivieramm.com/lead-stories-brand/maersk-expects-full-return-to-suez-canal-by-march-2027-sca-says-90336" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="11" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The SCA's engagement strategy appears designed to lock in this momentum. By securing public commitments from Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, the canal authority is creating a benchmark that other carriers will be measured against, and it is signalling to the market that the waterway's recovery is being actively managed rather than passively awaited. The meetings also serve a domestic purpose, demonstrating to Egyptian stakeholders that the canal's revenue recovery is progressing after a period in which SCA revenues fell by more than $20 billion amid Red Sea tensions.<p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Looking ahead, the key question is whether the commitments translate into actual transits at the pace suggested. Maersk's March 2027 target for full return is ambitious but achievable if security conditions hold. Hapag-Lloyd's more cautious language about monitoring safety indicators reflects the carrier's recognition that the Red Sea threat has been managed rather than eliminated. The SCA's challenge is to sustain the recovery through what may be a prolonged period of mixed routing, in which carriers hedge between Suez and the Cape depending on security assessments. For now, the direction of travel is clear: the canal is recovering, and the world's largest carriers are leading the return.

SCA Meets Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk as Carriers Commit to Accelerated Suez Returns

Haulage Times Daily Intelligence