Shipping Weekly – 24 Sep 2026 | The Suez Return Splits by Direction

In the week of 17 to 24 September 2026, the Ocean Alliance finally moved. On 16 September the 24,188 teu OOCL Portugal transited the Suez Canal southbound, the first southbound passage by COSCO Shipping Lines since the Red Sea crisis began. But what has returned is the eastbound leg only – the westbound headhaul still runs around the Cape of Good Hope. MSC has taken the same approach on its Indusa service. The result is a network in which a single service can use two different routings depending on the direction. At the same time the Houthis took Perim Island inside the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and the UN Security Council held an emergency session on 15 September. Ships are coming back, but the assumptions underneath them are not stable.

Key points this week

• The Ocean Alliance moved to Suez. On 16 September the OOCL Portugal (24,188 teu, Ocean Alliance NEU2 service, Belgium to China) transited the canal southbound. COSCO and OOCL are shifting five services on Europe/Mediterranean-Asia to Suez in sequence, with COSCO Kilimanjaro on 20 September and OOCL Denmark on 28 September to follow.
• Only the eastbound leg has returned. The Ocean Alliance’s LL4 (CMA CGM’s FAL1) plans to route all future eastbound sailings via Suez, but westbound stays on the Cape. MSC has likewise returned only the westbound leg of its Indusa service (Indian subcontinent to the US and Mexico), with MSC Domna X sailing from Colombo on 23 September. Eastbound continues via the Cape.
• CMA CGM has reworked its China-West Africa PSS by country. From 21 September the previous flat US$300 per teu was replaced by a per-country scale: US$100 per teu for Senegal, US$150 for Ghana and Togo, US$50 for Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin and Equatorial Guinea. Levels have come down sharply.
• West African waiting times worsened. Tema is now a 7-day average of 6.35 days (5.78 days a week earlier) and Abidjan 6.80 days (4.25 days), the latter hit by equipment failures and a shortage of vehicles. Lagos has cleared its anchorage queue to 1.0 day, but road gridlock adds roughly four days to get boxes out.

Container rates and market conditions

The composite rose 1%, but the two halves of the market are further apart than ever. The Transpacific climbed hard on pre-Golden Week front-loading and blank sailings, with Shanghai to New York up 7%. Asia-Europe went the other way as tonnage returned via Suez, and Shanghai to Rotterdam fell 9%. Across the five weeks from week 39 to week 43, 77 of 720 planned sailings have been blanked. Every West African port we track deteriorated this week. Tema is seeing roughly seven days of intermittent delay (Japan to Tema route), and Abidjan’s container dwell times are stretching as equipment failures and a shortage of haulage vehicles compound each other. Conakry stands out at a 7-day average of 10.0 days, and Dakar has risen to 2.5 days as traffic diverted onto the Mali corridor adds load (Japan to Dakar route). Lagos has cleared its anchorage queue, but it now takes about four days to move a box out of the yard (Japan to Apapa route).

What does an eastbound-only Suez return mean for shippers?

The substance of this week is that the Suez return is proceeding by direction, not wholesale. The Ocean Alliance’s LL4/FAL1, CMA CGM’s FAL3 and MSC’s Indusa have all moved the leg returning to Asia – the backhaul. The headhaul out of Asia to Europe and North America still goes around the Cape.

There is a logic to the asymmetry. The return leg carries mostly empties and comparatively light cargo, so the downside if Red Sea conditions deteriorate again is small. The headhaul sails full of high-value cargo, where the same risk carries far more weight. Carriers are testing from the lighter side first.

Three practical consequences follow. First, headhaul transit times have not shortened yet. Rewriting delivery assumptions off a “Suez is back” headline will put you out of step with what is actually sailing. Second, the empty-container cycle tightens as the return leg gets shorter, which works in favour of equipment availability (preparing for container shortages). Third, on services that use different routings each way, port rotations and transhipment pairings change, so cargo can arrive later even when the sea passage is shorter. Check the actual rotation and cut-off rather than the routing label when you book.

Carrier by carrier

The Red Sea assumption

While carriers return to Suez, conditions in the strait itself have deteriorated. Between 11 and 12 September Houthi forces took Mocha and Dhubab and seized Perim Island (Mayun) inside the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, giving them effective control of the eastern side of the waterway – though not the whole of it, since the western shore lies on the Djibouti side. Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline was shut down after drone attacks, and crude approached US$100 a barrel for the first time since mid-May.

The UN Security Council held an emergency session on 15 September, at which the Assistant Secretary-General said that “navigational rights and freedoms in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait must be fully restored and respected by all”. The same briefing noted that, according to vessel tracking sites, “commercial shipping flows through the Red Sea appear to remain unaffected for the time being”. The Houthis have stated that navigation is safe for all companies except Saudi vessels, and carriers are proceeding on that basis – while each stresses that the routing depends on continued stability in the Red Sea and can be reversed.

From a shipper’s point of view, the current softness in rates and space is not a permanent condition. A single attack on a merchant vessel could reverse the policy immediately, and a reversal would move a great deal of tonnage back onto the Cape route at once. If you are fixing rates on a longer validity, build that swing into the assumption (how ocean freight costs are built up).

Practical points for shippers and forwarders

• Do not rewrite headhaul transit times off a “Suez is back” headline. What has returned is mainly the eastbound leg. Westbound sailings out of Asia largely still round the Cape. Verify the actual port rotation rather than the service name.
• For West Africa, quote delivery dates from gate-out, not vessel ETA. Lagos has cleared its anchorage queue to one day, yet road gridlock still adds about four days to move a box out. Congestion has shifted from the anchorage to the yard and the road (demurrage and detention).
• Name the destination country when asking for African surcharge levels. Now that CMA CGM has moved from a flat rate to a per-country scale, levels are likely to move country by country. Asking only whether a West Africa PSS applies is no longer enough.
• Equipment cycles should tighten. A shorter return leg speeds up box turnaround, so there may be room to revisit shortage-related surcharges or restrictions at renewal (preparing for container shortages).
• A cluster of charges takes effect around 1 October – CMA CGM’s reefer PSS from Europe to West Africa at €200 per teu and ONE’s fourth-quarter Europe Environment Surcharge, now covering UK trades. Refresh quotes for October loadings before the end of September.

What to watch next

• End SepSubmission of the Hapag-Lloyd/FIMI improved proposal for ZIM to the Israeli cabinet. Not announced as of 24 September.
• 25 SepCMA CGM’s US$350 per teu surcharge on China to Durban takes effect.
• 28 SepOOCL Denmark’s eastbound Suez transit, the fifth Ocean Alliance service to switch.
• 28 SepA 24-hour strike is scheduled at Italian ports, with possible knock-on effects for Mediterranean transhipment.
• 1 OctCMA CGM raises the reefer PSS from Europe to West Africa to €200 per teu.
• 1 OctONE’s fourth-quarter Europe Environment Surcharge takes effect, extended to UK trades.
• 1 OctGhana bans imports of used vehicles more than 15 years old, a relaxation of the originally proposed 10-year threshold.
• 1 OctEmirates Shipping Line stops accepting plastic waste (HS 3915), becoming the second carrier to do so after CMA CGM in 2022.
• Mid OctDeadline for Abidjan’s 6-7 week terminal recovery plan. With waits at 6.80 days this week, the target looks uncertain.
• OngoingWhether the Ocean Alliance switches its westbound sailings to Suez. Only then does tonnage deployment on the Cape route change materially.
• OngoingConditions at Bab el-Mandeb and the safety of commercial navigation.

Sources

1. Drewry — World Container Index (assessed 17 September 2026)
2. Kuehne+Nagel — Port operational updates (16-22 September 2026)
3. Container News — COSCO returns to Suez Canal as OOCL Portugal makes southbound transit
4. gCaptain — Container shipping returns to Suez despite rising Red Sea risks
5. Container News — The Suez route is returning, the voyage is not yet normal
6. Container News — MSC partially restores Suez transits on Indusa service
7. MSC — Resumption of Indusa Service in the Red Sea Region
8. Maersk — Structural changes to AE5, AE11, AE12 and ME2 Gemini services
9. The Loadstar — Gemini steps up return to Suez with four more Asia-Europe services
10. Container News — CMA CGM updates peak season surcharges across major trades
11. Container News — CMA CGM announces new surcharges across several trades
12. NBC News — Houthis capture Yemen’s Red Sea coastline on Bab el-Mandeb
13. United Nations — Security Council 10222nd meeting (15 September 2026)
14. Euronews — Houthis seize Yemeni island in Bab el-Mandeb
15. Seatrade Maritime — Hapag-Lloyd reshapes Zim deal to address Israel security concerns
16. Globes — Hapag-Lloyd, FIMI to submit improved offer for ZIM
17. ONE — Newsroom
18. ZIM — Launches new Falcon Service connecting Asia and the east coast of South America
19. Cyprus Shipping News — Hanwha Ocean wins 1.55 trillion won order from Yang Ming
20. Splash247 — Emirates Shipping Line bans plastic waste cargoes
21. Citi Newsroom — No more importation of used vehicles 15 years and older from October 1
22. Nairametrics — Why lower vehicle tariffs may not bring imports back to Lagos
23. Logistics Manager — HMM launches Gulf-India-East Africa (GIA) service

This article was compiled by the OCEAN FREIGHT JAPAN editorial team from carrier announcements and press reporting (period covered: 17-24 September 2026). Surcharge levels and their conditions can change after announcement, and actual application varies by origin, commodity and contract terms. Always confirm applicability against the carrier’s official tariff and your own quotation.