Maersk completes trial transit through Bab Al-Mandab Strait into Red Sea

Danish shipping giant Maersk has completed another trial transit through the Bab Al-Mandab Strait and into the Red Sea, signalling cautious steps toward a possible return to the Suez Canal after more than a year of widespread disruptions.

The US-flagged Maersk Denver sailed through the Red Sea on 11–12 January as part of the company’s Middle East–Indian Subcontinent to US East Coast service, according to a Maersk statement on Monday.

The company said the voyage was part of ongoing monitoring of security conditions, stressing that no further sailings have yet been scheduled and that a broader resumption of traffic through the canal has not been decided.

The transit follows a similar passage last month by the Singapore-flagged Maersk Sebarok on 18–19 December, which Maersk previously described as a test rather than a signal of normalised operations. At the time, the company said limited additional sailings could follow if safety conditions were met.

Maersk has been working with Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority (SCA) on a phased approach to a potential return to the canal, but said full use of the Red Sea route remains contingent on what it called “safe and sustainable conditions”.