Maersk announced Tuesday it will take steps to resume navigation through the Red Sea via the Suez Canal once conditions permit, with safety of crews as the company’s top priority, Reuters reported.
The shipping giant diverted vessels away from the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea toward Africa’s southern tip in January 2024, after one of its ships was attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who targeted vessels in solidarity with Gazans.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Egypt with Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie, Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc said the company has been encouraged by the peace process in Gaza, which aims to secure freedom of navigation in the Bab al-Mandab strait linking the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
“Given the significant progress in both Gaza and Bab al-Mandab, Maersk will take steps to resume navigation around the East-West corridor via the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, and normalize transit over time,” Clerc stated, according to Reuters.
He emphasized that operations will resume “as soon as conditions allow, with the safety of our crew as a top priority.”
The Houthis have struck vessels in the Red Sea since 2023. As the attacks continued, the US launched strikes against the Houthis this past March, on the orders of President Donald Trump.
Trump later announced that the US would stop bombing the Houthis after the rebels communicated that they would stop attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
Even though the Houthis halted their attack on US ships, they stressed that they would continue attacks on Israel and on ships linked to Israel, as they have done since the start of the conflict in Gaza.