Seven MSC ships ‘go dark’ as carrier tests Suez return

Container shipping consultancy Linerlytica identified at least seven eastbound MSC sailings through the corridor between late July and mid-August. The ships were deployed on several Mediterranean–China and North Europe–China services rather than a single experimental route.

The largest was the 24,346-TEU MSC Irina, which passed through the Suez Canal on 4 August and crossed Bab el-Mandab four days later while operating on MSC’s Jade service between China and the Mediterranean.

The 23,782-TEU MSC Amelia and 13,102-TEU MSC Vega both crossed Suez on 31 July and Bab el-Mandab on 3 August. They were deployed on MSC’s Tiger and Dragon services respectively.

Another vessel, the 9,408-TEU MSC Giulia, passed through Suez on 21 July before calling at Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Port and crossing Bab el-Mandab on 4 August.

The remaining reported passages involved the 15,413-TEU MSC Annabella, the 19,224-TEU MSC Oliver and the 15,576-TEU MSC Napoli. The vessels crossed Bab el-Mandab between 11 and 15 August while operating on services connecting China with northern Europe or the Mediterranean.

Ships disappear from public tracking

According to Linerlytica, all seven Bab el-Mandab crossings were conducted as “dark” transits. This means that the ships’ Automatic Identification System transponders were switched off while they passed through the strait.

AIS normally broadcasts a vessel’s identity, position, speed and direction to nearby ships, coastal authorities and commercial tracking services. Turning it off therefore makes the ship considerably harder to follow through publicly available tracking platforms, although it does not make the vessel completely invisible to military surveillance or other monitoring systems.

Under international maritime rules, AIS is generally expected to remain operational. However, the International Maritime Organization recognises security-related exceptions, while the ship’s master retains authority over decisions necessary to protect the vessel and crew.

In this case, Linerlytica said the signals were disabled to conceal the ships’ identities and movements and reduce their exposure to possible Houthi attacks.

MSC has not published an advisory announcing the restoration of its trans-Suez services. Nevertheless, Linerlytica expects the passages to become regular deployments, with further dark transits reportedly planned.

Is Chinese port congestion driving the return?

The sailings come as severe congestion at Chinese ports places growing pressure on container shipping capacity. Typhoons Bavi, Noul and Dolphin have disrupted operations at ports including Shanghai, Ningbo, Qingdao, Yantian and Shekou. Waiting times at some terminals have reportedly reached as much as 12 days, while around 2.4 million TEU of container-ship capacity was caught in Asian congestion during August.

Routing ships through Suez rather than around the Cape of Good Hope can remove several thousand nautical miles from an Asia–Europe voyage. This releases vessels and container equipment more quickly, helping carriers compensate for capacity trapped in port queues.

Linerlytica consequently linked the growing number of Red Sea sailings to carriers’ efforts to manage the Chinese backlog. However, the connection is not universally accepted.

Peter Sand, chief analyst at Xeneta, told Seatrade Maritime that returning services through Suez would make sense as a response to congestion, but cautioned that it was not a quick solution and that he would hesitate to connect the two developments directly.

MSC follows rivals back towards Suez

MSC is not the only major carrier moving cautiously back towards the corridor. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd recently transferred a second Gemini Cooperation service to Suez. The AE19 service, marketed by Hapag-Lloyd as SE4, now operates through the Red Sea instead of sailing around the Cape of Good Hope.

Linerlytica estimates that Maersk has already returned more than 30% of its previously Cape-routed volumes to the trans-Suez corridor. CMA CGM has also increased its use of the canal, while Cosco has been preparing additional Red Sea operations.

MSC’s approach is nevertheless different. Whereas Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd announced their service changes and referred to detailed security assessments, MSC’s seven passages have been identified through vessel-tracking analysis without a corresponding public announcement from the company.

The sailings therefore do not yet amount to a full return to normality. But sending seven vessels — including several ultra-large container ships — through Bab el-Mandab in little more than two weeks indicates that MSC is moving beyond an isolated trial.

For shippers, a broader return to Suez could mean shorter transit times and more available capacity. For carriers, however, it would also increase effective market capacity and could add further downward pressure to Asia–Europe freight rates, while exposing ships and crews once again to one of the world’s most dangerous maritime corridors.