News / DSV fear of ships returning to Suez impacting airfreight business questioned

DSV claims more ocean services returning to the Suez Canal will be a major headwind expected to affect its airfreight operations over the remaining months of 2025.

However, after the Houthis recently announced an escalation of their sphere of attacks in the region, that prediction has been questioned by industry sources.

In its H1 Airfreight Pulse yesterday, DSV said: “The Suez Canal’s improved operational capacity is leading to more frequent sailings, making ocean freight more attractive. As a result, commodities from the Indian subcontinent and South-east Asia – previously reliant on air transport – are expected to shift back to ocean, due to improved transit times and cost efficiencies.”

Certainly recent months have seen an increase in the reintroduction of services using the canal, particularly by CMA CGM.

From mid-June, its Med Express service resumed Suez transits, following the Persian Gulf-Mediterranean Levant Middle East Express, Mediterranean Club Express, and East Asia-Mediterranean Phoenician Expresss.

But, qasked about DSV’s view of increased Suez transits as a potential threat to airfreight volumes, chief analyst at eeSea Destine Ozuygur was sceptical.

Noting forecast ocean capacity using the Suez Canal was up 9% for September, against capacity actually deployed in June, she told The Loadstar while that was a “good sign”, she added: “I would say it’s a little too recent to pin on a definitive trend”.

She said the increase in Red Sea capacity was “largely due to intra-regional carriers operating south of Suez and not travelling onward to the Mediterranean”.

Even so, there is demand for a resumption of Suez transits, in no small part because of the high demand for capacity, the poor reliability caused by congestion, and the strains on the Far East-Europe trade from the extended transit times from longer voyages around the Cape of Good Hope.

One source told The Loadstar: “This would be prime opportunity for carriers like CMA CGM to take advantage of shorter transit times – if they can confidently secure passage past Yemen.”

Confidence, however, is something many carriers may be lacking, following the recent warning by the Houthis that they would target all ships belonging to any company that deals with ports in Israel.

That change marks a significant escalation from previous warnings that the rebel group would only target vessels calling at the port of Haifa, and has provoked confusion in the industry.

Asked to provide clarity on which particular carriers would now be targeted, a Houthis spokesperson told The Loadstar they would provide a list in the coming days.

As this story went to press, that list had yet to arrive, but with the Journal of Commerce noting even CMA CGM – described by Loadstar sources as the “least risk-averse” – would only transit when “security conditions are met”, a mass rush of capacity returning to the Suez Canal seems unlikely.

Another source added: “That article suggests CMA CGM takes the Houthi threat seriously enough to limit its passage, despite being in a ‘safer’ standing than many of its peers, all of which leaves question marks over how big an impact Suez transits will have on airfreight.”

This article is © The Loadstar. Reproduction, rewriting, or derivative use requires a license. Contact [email protected] for licensing enquiries.