COSCO Shipping Lines has resumed southbound transit through the Suez Canal, with the ultra-large container vessel OOCL Portugal completing the passage on September 16, marking the carrier’s first southbound Suez transit since Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb tensions disrupted shipping routes.
The vessel was sailing from Belgium to China as part of the north convoy. OOCL Portugal operates on the NEU2 service under the Ocean Alliance, connecting major ports in the Far East and Northwest Europe. The ship has a capacity of 24,188 TEUs and measures about 400 metres in length.
The transit represents another indication that major container carriers are gradually restoring services through the Suez Canal after rerouting large portions of their Asia-Europe networks around the Cape of Good Hope because of security concerns in the Red Sea.
The Suez Canal Authority said container-ship net tonnage passing through the waterway reached approximately 72.1 million tonnes between January and August 2026, up 54.2% from 46.7 million tonnes during the same period in 2025.
The authority also said services operated by CMA CGM, Maersk, MSC, Hapag-Lloyd and COSCO have returned to the canal on Europe-Asia routes. On September 16, a total of 39 vessels transited the canal, carrying around 2.3 million tonnes of net tonnage.
The renewed use of the Suez route could shorten Asia-Europe sailing distances and reduce fuel consumption and vessel requirements compared with the longer Cape of Good Hope routing. However, carriers continue to monitor security conditions around the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb before expanding their Suez operations.
OOCL Portugal’s passage therefore adds to the gradual recovery of container traffic through one of the world’s most important maritime corridors, while highlighting the ongoing shift in carrier network strategies.