- Suez Canal Sees Year-on-Year Decline Even as Some Container Ships Return.
- Container Ship Traffic Through Suez Falls as Megamax Vessels Stay Away.
- Selective Recovery Masks Ongoing Weakness in Suez Canal Container Flows.
Despite the recent buzz about large container ships making their way back through the Red Sea, the monthly container traffic through the Suez Canal has actually taken a hit compared to last year, showing a decline in both October and November. Over these two months, only 304 container vessels made their way through the Canal in either direction, down from 331 crossings during the same time frame in 2024, which translates to an 8.2% drop, reports LinkedIn.
Stronger Performance Earlier in 2025
This recent dip stands in stark contrast to the stronger performance we saw earlier in the year. In the first three quarters of 2025, overall container ship traffic through the Suez Canal was up by 6.8% year-on-year, suggesting that the downturn really hit hard in the latter part of the year.
Limited Uptick Among Large Container Ships
There has been a slight uptick with some of the larger vessels. Ships in the 15,000–16,000 TEU range, like the 15,500-TEU CMA CGM OSIRIS, have been making about 20–22 monthly transits since June, which is an increase from the 16–18 passages we saw before. Still, this improvement is just a small blip in the overall traffic landscape.
Megamax Ships Continue to Avoid Suez
As for the true Megamax container ships, those over 18,000 TEU, they’re still steering clear of the Suez Canal altogether. This segment hasn’t made a sustained return, having stayed away for more than 20 months now.
Sharp Decline in Smaller Vessel Traffic
Smaller container ships have really taken a beating. Vessels under 4,000 TEU experienced a significant 27.2% year-on-year drop in Canal transits just in November. This decline is part of a downward trend that kicked off in mid-Q2.
Mid-Sized Segment Driving the Only Real Growth
The only segment showing any real signs of recovery is the 4,000–7,500 TEU range. This group has been gradually coming back since May and even saw a remarkable 127.8% year-on-year increase in September. However, despite this rebound, traffic is still below 50% of what it was before the Red Sea crisis, highlighting just how uneven the recovery has been.
Data Visibility and Route Tracking
Alphaliner’s AXSInsights module provides detailed visibility into Suez Canal transits and Cape of Good Hope reroutings, enabling close monitoring of shifting container ship deployment patterns across vessel sizes.
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Source: LinkedIn
