ONE returns to Suez Canal as 3 more Premier Alliance services set to follow
Singapore-based shipping line Ocean Network Express (ONE) has returned to the Suez Canal, with its container ship ONE CONTINUITY transiting the waterway on Sunday on a voyage from Singapore to the Netherlands, the Suez Canal Authority said.
The vessel crossed in the southbound convoy. It is 320 metres long and 46 metres wide, has a gross tonnage of 88,000 and can carry up to 8,110 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), the authority said.
The ship operates on the FE1 service, run by the Premier Alliance, which also includes South Korea’s HMM and Taiwan’s Yang Ming. The service connects major ports in the Far East with northwestern Europe.
Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie said the return of major shipping lines demonstrated the waterway’s importance as a sustainable route for global trade between East and West.
He said the authority had maintained close contact with shipping customers since the start of the Red Sea crisis, monitoring geopolitical developments and market changes to coordinate the gradual return of shipping services ahead of a full resumption.
Rabie added that three other services operated by the Premier Alliance were expected to resume transiting the canal instead of sailing around the Cape of Good Hope. He did not provide a timetable for their return.
He also said the canal was ready to operate at full capacity and accommodate the return of large container ships.
The ONE CONTINUITY‘s Captain Oleksandr Shumakov said using the Suez Canal was important for the shipping line because it reduced the sailing distance between Asia and Europe, helping cargo reach its destination sooner while lowering fuel consumption compared with the route around the Cape of Good Hope.
Shumakov praised the authority’s navigational services and the cooperation of canal pilots and accompanying tugboats during the vessel’s transit. He also commended efforts to develop the waterway by expanding sections of the canal and increasing stretches with dual navigation lanes, making navigation easier and safer.