The Red Sea shipping crisis – and the need to take the far longer route via the Cape of the Good Hope – has seen the proportion of containerships globally deployed on the industry’s top tradelane jump from a fifth to a quarter of all tonnage, according to a new study from Alphaliner.

In just two years, carriers have added 2.26m teu of extra capacity on the Asia-Europe tradelane, bringing the total fleet on this route to 7.8m teu. With 24.4% of the global fleet now trading there, it is by far the largest shipping lane for the liner fleet, according to Alphaliner data (see chart below). Two years ago, the percentage stood at 20.8%.

When container carriers reroute from the Suez Canal to travel via the Cape of Good Hope, the Asia–Europe tradelane becomes approximately 3,500 to 4,500 nautical miles (6,500 to 8,300 km) longer, depending on the specific origin and destination ports. This detour usually adds 10 to 14 days to transit times, depending on vessel speed.

Donald Trump, the American president, claimed last month that after more than 17 months, the Houthi-inspired Red Sea shipping crisis is coming to a close.

However, most liners questioned at recent quarterly results have insisted it is still too early for any resumption of Red Sea transits.

For instance, Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc said it would be “irresponsible” to resume Red Sea transits based on an unclear ceasefire deal, warning the region remains too volatile for a safe return.

French shipping giant CMA CGM remains the only major global operator to have resumed services through the Suez Canal.

From mid-June, CMA CGM plans to reinstate Suez Canal transit for its Med Express (MEDEX) service, backed by French naval protection.

While the Asia-Europe tradelane continues to grow, it is not the fastest-growing. Over the last 12 months, Latin America-related services have registered the steepest growth, whereby the fleet deployed in Latin American services is now exactly comparable in size to the capacity of all vessels serving the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent.