Arab Finance: Hamburg-based shipping company Hapag-Lloyd expects additional services to resume transits through the Suez Canal, joining two services already operating to and from Asia, according to a statement from the Suez Canal Authority (SCA).

The anticipated return was discussed during a meeting between Ossama Rabiee, Chairman and Managing Director of the SCA, and Juan Pablo Richards, Hapag-Lloyd’s Senior Managing Director for Region South Europe. Held at the SCA’s headquarters in the Irshad Building in Ismailia, the meeting explored cooperation to increase traffic through the canal.

Richards explained that Hapag-Lloyd is closely monitoring developments in the Red Sea and maritime safety indicators to guide changes to its sailing schedules as transits gradually resume through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Suez Canal. He expressed hope that the improvement in canal traffic indicators would continue.

Rabiee affirmed the canal’s readiness to accommodate returning shipping services, pointing to the SCA’s ongoing development of maritime services and modernization of its fleet to meet customers’ changing requirements.

He expressed hope for the full resumption of Hapag-Lloyd’s services through the canal, emphasizing the waterway’s importance to maintaining global supply chains amid geopolitical challenges and rapid changes in the shipping industry.

The discussions also addressed potential cooperation beyond shipping operations. Richards identified an opportunity for the SCA’s Maritime Training and Simulation Academy to work with the Damietta Alliance Container Terminal, also known as Tahya Misr 1, at Damietta Port on training for Ship Captains. Hapag-Lloyd is a major investor in the terminal.

Earlier, Denmark-based shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk announced that it expects all its shipping services to return to the Suez Canal by March 2027.