The Suez Canal on Saturday saw the passage of the CMA CGM BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, the largest container ship to transit the waterway in two years, signaling a positive return of traffic to the vital trade route. Admiral Osama Rabie, chairperson of the Suez Canal Authority, described it as the start of giant ships resuming operations. The vessel was part of a northbound convoy from the United Kingdom to Malaysia.
Admiral Osama Rabie, chairperson of the Suez Canal Authority, announced the "gradual return" of giant container ships to the canal. The CMA CGM BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, owned by the French shipping line CMA CGM, measures 399 meters in length, 54 meters in width, with a draught of 13.5 meters, capacity for 17,859 containers, and a net tonnage of 177,000 tons. This marked its first transit of the Suez Canal and the Bab al-Mandab strait since its last passage on October 22, 2023, due to regional tensions.
Rabie stated: "The passage of the container ship CMA CGM BENJAMIN FRANKLIN through the canal and then the Bab al-Mandab strait is a positive indicator towards the beginning of the return of giant container ships to transit the Suez Canal once again, in light of the return of stability to the Red Sea region."
He added that incentives and flexible marketing policies adopted since last May have succeeded in restoring 28 voyages of medium-sized container ships, averaging 130,000 to 160,000 tons, including 19 by CMA CGM and nine by MSC. CMA CGM also rerouted another giant vessel, the CMA CGM ZHENG HE, to transit the Suez Canal instead of the Cape of Good Hope.
Rabie emphasized that the safe passage through the Bab al-Mandab strait after the canal sends a "message of reassurance to all shipping lines that calm has returned to the region," encouraging a reconsideration of sailing schedules and the implementation of trial voyages through the Red Sea and Suez Canal.