Shipping Arabia, September 21, 2026 – Container ship traffic through the Suez Canal is showing a significant recovery, with total net tonnage rising 54.2% during the first eight months of 2026, as major carriers gradually restore services through the waterway.
The Suez Canal Authority said container ships transiting the canal recorded approximately 72.1 million tonnes of net tonnage between January and August, compared with 46.7 million tonnes during the same period of 2025.
The recovery was highlighted by the first Suez Canal transit of the 24,000-TEU OOCL Portugal, which sailed through the waterway on September 16 during a voyage from Belgium to China.
The approximately 400-meter vessel, with a beam of 61.3 meters and gross tonnage of 247,000 tonnes, operates on the NEU2 service under the OCEAN Alliance, directly connecting major ports in the Far East and Northwest Europe.
Suez Canal Authority Chairman and Managing Director Adm. Ossama Rabiee said the voyage was particularly significant as it marked COSCO SHIPPING Lines’ first southbound transit through the Suez Canal since the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb disruption.
Rabiee said several major shipping lines have now restored maritime services through the canal on Asia-Europe trades, including CMA CGM, Maersk, MSC, Hapag-Lloyd and COSCO.
The return of additional mainline services is beginning to translate into higher containership tonnage through Suez after prolonged diversions around the Cape of Good Hope disrupted traditional Asia-Europe routing.
On September 16 alone, 39 vessels with combined net tonnage of 2.3 million tonnes transited the canal, according to the authority.
The figures provide a further indication of the gradual recovery of Suez Canal container traffic as carriers reassess Red Sea operations and progressively return capacity to the shorter Asia-Europe route.
Source: Suez Canal Authority
