Evergreen’s Suez return leaves Zim increasingly isolated
The container shipping industry’s long detour around southern Africa is rapidly coming to an end, with Taiwan’s Evergreen preparing to send its first ships through the Suez Canal after almost three years of avoiding the Red Sea.
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According to liner consultancy Linerlytica, Evergreen will deploy the 16,556 teu Ever Eon and Ever Edit through Suez on November 7 and 11 respectively, operating on the Ocean Alliance’s NEU7/CES service.
The 20,124 teu Ever Gifted will follow on November 16 on the alliance’s MD2 Mediterranean service.
Evergreen had been the last Ocean Alliance member holding out against a return to the canal, with partners CMA CGM, Cosco and OOCL already restoring services through the waterway.
The development comes as the Premier Alliance, comprising Ocean Network Express, HMM and Yang Ming, prepares to restore further Mediterranean services through Suez.
Meanwhile, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have announced that their Gemini Cooperation’s ME1 service linking India and Europe will switch from the Cape of Good Hope, with the first westbound sailing departing Salalah yesterday.
According to Linerlytica, all three major liner alliances and MSC are on course to restore their Suez networks by the first quarter of 2027, leaving Israeli carrier Zim as the most prominent remaining major holdout. The Houthis from Yemen have specifically singled out Israeli-linked tonnage as potential targets in the Red Sea.
The implications for containership supply of this mass return to the Suez are considerable. Earlier this year, Xeneta estimated that a comprehensive return to Suez could effectively release between 6% and 8% of global containership capacity just as another wave of newbuildings prepares to enter service.