This is the third ship to cross the canal since the strategic partnership agreement was signed between the authority and the Danish group. 

The incentives and flexible marketing policies adopted by the Authority during 2025 succeeded in attracting 784 ships with a total net tonnage of 36.6 million tons.

Admiral Osama Rabie  Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority SCA  announced that the canal witnessed, on Tuesday, the passage of the container ship ASTRID MAERSK on its first voyage through the canal.

The ship had handled containers at the container terminal in East Port Said port, then refueled with environmentally friendly methanol fuel, followed by sailing through the Suez Canal as part of the northbound convoy on its journey to Oman. The giant ship, belonging to the MAERSK shipping line, is 350 meters long, 54 meters wide, and has a draft of 14.8 meters, with a total cargo of 185,000 tons, making it the largest MAERSK container ship to cross the canal in two years.

The third Maersk shipping line vessel

The ship is the third Maersk shipping line vessel to cross the canal since the signing of the strategic partnership agreement between the Authority and the Danish group, following the passage of the first ship, the MAERSK SEBAROK, last December, and then the passage of the container ship, the MAERSK DENVER, last January, which is the result of close cooperation.

As part of the "ME-11" shipping service 

This voyage is the first to cross the Suez Canal as part of the "ME-11" shipping service operating on the trade route between India/Middle East and the Mediterranean, within the services of the Gemini shipping alliance, which includes the Maersk Line and Hapag-Lloyd shipping lines This comes after the alliance announced that it would be rerouting the service's flights through the Suez Canal in both directions instead of the Cape of Good Hope route, starting in mid-February.

According to the protocol followed

According to the protocol followed by the Suez Canal Authority SCA in dealing with ships that cross the canal for the first time, Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, Chairman of the Authority, delegated Captain Saeed Imam, Senior First Pilot, and Captain Ahmed Nassir, Senior First Pilot, to board the ship, welcome its crew, and hand over a commemorative gift to the ship’s captain.

 The first shipping services belonging to the "Gemini" alliance

 Rabie emphasized that the start of the diversion of the first shipping services belonging to the "Gemini" alliance represents a return to the right path for the shortest and most sustainable route for global trade passing between East and West, in a step that reflects the major shipping lines’ commitment to crossing through the Suez Canal.

Restore major shipping lines, 

The chairman of the SCA noted that the Suez Canal has begun to reap the first fruits of its efforts to restore major shipping lines, stressing the continuation of efforts aimed at gradually increasing shipping rates in the canal through continued direct communication with customers and the adoption of flexible marketing policies.

Related : Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk shift Gemini IMX service back through Red Sea and Suez canal

The head of the authority revealed the success of the incentives and flexible marketing policies adopted by the authority during 2025 in attracting 784 ships, with a total net tonnage of 36.6 million tons, achieving revenues of $170.4 million.

The traffic of 36 ships on Tuesday, with a total cargo of 2 million tons.

Rabie added that the ASTRID MAERSK ship (IMO 9948750, MMSI 219608000 -sailing under the flag of Denmark ) benefits from Navigation Publication No. (3/2025) for container ships, which stipulates granting container ships with a net tonnage of 130,000 tons or more (loaded or empty) a 15% reduction in canal transit fees, noting in this regard that the publication has succeeded since last May until now in restoring 64 ships with a total net tonnage of 9.9 million tons.

It is noteworthy that the canal saw the Traffic of 36 ships on Tuesday, with a total cargo of 2 million tons. 
Official Spokesperson for the Suez Canal Authority George Safwat stated

Related : Maersk’s MECL service returns to trans-Suez route

Source : Press - Release received by Maritime Tickers

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