Arab Finance: Denmark-based shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk expects all its shipping services to return to the Suez Canal by March 2027, according to a statement from the Suez Canal Authority (SCA).

The outlook was unveiled during a videoconference between Ossama Rabiee, Chairman and Managing Director of the SCA, and Rabab Boulos, Maersk’s Chief Operating Officer and a member of its executive leadership team. The talks focused on strengthening cooperation and reviewing sailing plans and schedules to accelerate the return of services through the canal.

Rabiee reported that Maersk-affiliated vessels made 276 transits through the canal between January and September 2026, with a combined net tonnage of 23.3 million tons. This compared with 146 transits totaling 7 million net tons during the same period in 2025.

He described a substantial recovery in Maersk services using the waterway, attributing it to the strategic partnership and longstanding relationship between the two sides. Boulos also credited their cooperation with bringing back a significant number of services and identified the canal as Maersk’s preferred route.

On preparations for further returns, Ahmed Hassan, a senior vice president at Maersk who also attended the meeting, said the group continued to revise its sailing schedules to enable more services to pass through the canal in the coming period.

Hany El Nady, Maersk’s Chief Group Representative for the Middle East and North Africa, also participated in the talks and said the company was working to accelerate the restoration of all its services through the waterway.

Rabiee highlighted the canal’s economic advantages, saying geopolitical developments and their impact on rising fuel prices and freight rates had reinforced its strategic importance. He said the route offered substantial cost savings for very large container ships and greater navigational safety than sailing around the Cape of Good Hope.