The Suez Canal on Tuesday saw the transit of the mega container ship CMA CGM JACQUES SAADE, described as one of the world’s largest container vessels and the biggest to pass through the canal in two years. The passage followed an announcement that CMA CGM vessels have returned to transiting the waterway at full capacity.
Operating on liquefied natural gas, CMA CGM JACQUES SAADE led the southbound convoy on a voyage from Morocco to Malaysia. The vessel is 400 m long with a 62 m beam and a net tonnage of 231,000. It can carry up to 23,000 TEUs.
In the northbound convoy, CMA CGM ADONIS also transited, carrying 154,000 tonnes of cargo, according to the Suez Canal Authority (SCA).
The canal also witnessed the northbound transit of MAERSK SEBAROK, which had passed through the Bab el-Mandab strait while sailing from Port of Salalah in Oman to the United States. The SCA said this was the first transit by a container ship affiliated to the MAERSK Group since the signing of a strategic partnership agreement between the two parties. The vessel is 318 m long with a 40 m beam, a 14 m draft, and a gross tonnage of 82,000.
SCA Chairman and Managing Director Admiral Ossama Rabiee said the return of major shipping lines reflects the Authority’s intensive marketing efforts in the recent period, citing CMA CGM’s full-capacity return and the start of a gradual return by the MAERSK Group. He added that these steps will contribute to positive shifts in the maritime transport market, urging other shipping lines to adjust schedules and resume Red Sea and Bab el-Mandab routings through the Suez Canal.
Rabiee also stated that next year will see a gradual improvement in canal traffic rates, reaching normal levels in the second half of the year.
