Largest containership since March 2024 transits Suez Canal
The Suez Canal Authority is implementing ‘flexible pricing policies’ as it looks to entice traffic back through the waterway
France-based CMA CGM has agreed to resume transits through the Suez Canal after conversations with the SCA
FRENCH containership CMA CGM Osiris (IMO: 9882504) travelled through the Suez Canal on Wednesday, June 18, making it the largest boxship to transit the waterway since the peak of Houthi attacks on shipping in March 2024.
The 2021-built, Malta-flagged, 15,000 teu vessel travelled from Singapore to Alexandria on Egypt’s north coast, exiting the Suez Canal unscathed on June 18.
Two other vessels from the same carrier, CMA CGM Aquila (IMO: 9410741) and CMA CGM Callisto (IMO: 9410753), transited through the Suez Canal on Tuesday June 17, though both were considerably smaller than CMA CGM Osiris.
Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have forced vessels to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope, not to mention proving fatal for some seafarers.
In a bid to entice shipping back through the waterway, the Suez Canal Authority is offering a 15% discount on transit fees for containerships with a net tonnage over 130,000 tonnes, whether laden or in ballast.
SCA chairman Admiral Ossama Rabiee said the discount just one measure his organisation was deploying to encourage the return of major shipping lines through the canal.
CMA CGM management and SCA officials have agreed to resume transits through the canal for several of the company’s large vessels.
