In December, the shipping companies succeeded in stabilising transpacific freight rates and markedly increasing average rates on Asia-Europe routes. This uptick should take fourth quarter financial results slightly above the consensus forecasts which followed the third quarter deterioration seen by the majority of big shipping companies.
Four key factors explain this end-of-year market recovery:
Certainly, the Suez Canal has not returned to the level of use it was experiencing before the attack on the Galaxy Leader in November 2023. “In the first week of 2026, Suez Canal transits were still around 60% below the same week in 2023, before widespread diversions around the Cape of Good Hope began,” said Niels Rasmussen, BIMCO’s chief shipping analyst. Nevertheless, throughput increased markedly, reaching its highest level since the start of the attacks carried out by the Houthi rebels.
Transits were being made again by container carriers. For the first time for two years, the 23,000 TEU CMA CGM Jacques Saadé traversed the Red Sea on its way from Europe to Asia with a cargo of mainly empty containers. Although it turned off its AIS to go through the Red Sea, it was a telling illustration of the resurgence in interest in the canal among the shipping companies, clearly supported by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA).
In November, the ONE Henry Hudson, an 8,212 TEU container ship, caught fire while it was berthed in the port of Long Beach. The vessel’s charterer, Japanese shipping company ONE, announced on 1 December that the ONE Henry Hudson’s owner, fellow Japanese company Fukujin Kisin, had declared general average. The owners of the vessel’s cargo are going to contribute, therefore, to the cost of restoring the vessel to its normal operating condition.
In November 2024, Spain refused to allow three ships under American flag to enter its ports. The Maersk Denver, Maersk Nysted and Maersk Seletar, all operated by Maersk Line Limited as part of the US Maritime Security Program (MSP), which is under the aegis of the US Maritime Administration (MARAD), were suspected of transporting military equipment for Israel. The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) opened an investigation the following month, taking the view that the Spanish measures were “likely creating general or special conditions unfavourable to shipping in U.S. foreign trade”.
In a communiqué on 19 December 2025, the FMC indicated that it was continuing to investigate the affair and that it envisaged a series of retaliatory measures, including cargo restrictions, barring Spanish flag vessels from US ports or subjecting them to fines of up to $2.3 million per voyage.
The container ship charter market has shown great resilience despite the market turbulence. There was vigorous demand for 1,000-1,500 TEU ships, which caused chartering rates to soar. This phenomenon reflects the strategies being pursued by Asian and Western shipping companies, which are energetically expanding their intra-Asian and Indo-Pacific services.
Overall, less than 1% of the global container fleet was unused in 2025. Deliveries of new ships, coupled with traditional low demand in the first quarter, could, however, lead to a slight increase in the number of ships not in use in the coming months (...).