Maersk schedules dozens of vessels to travel via Suez Canal

OSLO (Reuters) -Denmark’s Maersk said on Wednesday it has scheduled several dozen container vessels to travel via the Suez Canal and the Red Sea in the next several weeks, after pausing voyages in the area earlier this month due to the risk of attacks.

The schedule remains subject to change based on specific contingency plans that may be formed over the coming days, the company added.

The container shipping giant on Dec. 24 said it was preparing a return to the Red Sea, citing the deployment of a U.S.-led military operation to protect vessels against attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants.

Among the vessels listed in an advisory to clients on Wednesday was the Maren Maersk, which departed Tangiers on Dec. 24 and would “continue via Suez Canal” with an estimated time of arrival in Singapore on Jan. 14.

Maersk has since Dec. 19 rerouted ships around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope to avoid attacks, charging customers extra fees and adding weeks to the time it takes to transport goods from Asia to Europe and to the east coast of North America.