Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie held on Tuesday talks with A.P. Moller-Maersk on accelerating the return of the shipping group’s services to the canal in the coming period.
During a videoconference with Rabab Bouls, Maersk’s Chief Operating Officer and member of its Executive Board, the two sides discussed the group’s sailing plans and schedules. Ahmed Hassan, Maersk’s Vice President of Operations, and Hani El-Nady, the group’s representative in the Middle East and North Africa, also attended.
Rabie said the canal had recorded a tangible return of Maersk services, reflecting the strategic partnership and longstanding relations between the two sides. A total of 276 Maersk voyages, carrying a combined net tonnage of 23.3 million tonnes, transited the canal from January through September 2026, compared with 146 voyages totalling seven million tonnes over the same period in 2025.
He said current geopolitical developments and their impact on fuel prices and freight rates had underscored the Suez Canal’s strategic importance and the economic savings it offers large container ships, alongside its navigational safety advantages compared with sailing around the Cape of Good Hope.
Bouls praised relations with the Suez Canal Authority, which have supported the return of a considerable number of Maersk shipping services. She expressed hope that all the group’s services would resume transiting the canal by March 2027, describing it as the group’s preferred route in light of their strategic partnership.
Hassan said Maersk would continue updating its sailing schedules to enable more of its services to return to the Suez Canal in the coming period.
