Maersk Completes Initial Red Sea Transit; Plans Stepwise Expansion
Maersk successfully completed its inaugural traverse through Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Red Sea on December 18-19, 2025 - marking an important operational milestone in its MECL service connecting India, Middle East and US East Coast and Gulf. All safety measures were followed during this journey with customers directly informed of its passage.
Maersk Sebarok's successful journey does not signal an immediate return of global shipping services through the trans-Suez corridor. Instead, this carrier has adopted a stepwise strategy, with only limited sailings being added if security thresholds continue to be met - reflecting geopolitical sensitivities affecting one of global shipping's critical chokepoints.
North American Capacity Tightens Ahead of Chinese New Year
Maersk reported availability across most Europe-to-North American services, with the notable exception of Mediterranean-to-Canada routings where capacity remains limited. To maintain schedule predictability when starting the new year, Maersk recommends early booking for January shipments.
Maersk has made plans for Chinese New Year factory and customs closures to trigger pre-holiday cargo movements in mid-February 2026, when factory and customs closures typically trigger pre-holiday cargo movements, Maersk is scheduling seven blank sailings across its Transpacific network--four to the West Coast and three to the East Coast--to align capacity with anticipated demand patterns. Maersk's East-West Gemini network continues its strong schedule reliability record; October-November SeaIntel data revealed Transpacific Eastbound services achieved 92.5% schedule reliability into Westbound services while 90.7% reliability into Eastbound services to date, according to October-November SeaIntel data.
Drayage Market Enters 2026 With Restrictive Capacity Limits and Regulation Pressure
North American drayage market is experiencing significant operational friction as 2026 begins, due to regulatory and operational factors creating localized volatility that threatens service levels and costs. Booking windows have expanded considerably at major ports - Los Angeles/Long Beach and Oakland now require two to three days' advance notice for peak-period appointments as compared to same-day booking in the past; in case demand surges suddenly delays could extend up to seven days.
Terminal friction has emerged as a significant cost driver, with restrictive appointment windows, grounded operations at off-dock yards, stricter last-free-day enforcement, premium appointment fees and persistent chassis shortages driving detention charges, demurrage fees and redelivery fees. Distance is no longer as significant in determining total drayage costs than terminal policy is now; fundamentally altering shipper economics.
Rail markets should experience some stability throughout January, though congestion remains from December's peaks. Los Angeles/Long Beach has reported elevated dwell times of 5-7 days for import cargo due to holiday-period strain on equipment, while high winds occasionally impact Canadian cargo movements with reduced train lengths and speeds.