Astrid Maersk has transited the Suez Canal for the first time, marking the initial passage of the ME-11 container service through the waterway following a recent routing change by Gemini Cooperation.

The transit was announced by the Suez Canal Authority and took place on 10 February as part of the canal’s northbound convoy. The vessel had called at East Port Said before bunkering methanol and proceeding through the canal on its voyage towards Oman.

At 350 metres in length, with a breadth of 54 metres, a draught of 14.8 metres and gross tonnage of around 185,000 tonnes, the ship is the largest Maersk container vessel to pass through the canal in the past two years, according to the authority.

The passage follows Gemini Cooperation’s decision to reroute its ME-11 service, which operates between India, the Middle East and the Mediterranean, back through the Suez Canal in both directions, rather than via the Cape of Good Hope. The alliance brings together Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd.

Adm. Ossama Rabiee, chairman and managing director of the Suez Canal Authority, said: "The commencement of the rerouting of the first shipping service affiliated to Gemini Cooperation represents a return to the right course, to the shortest and most sustainable route for global trade between East and West, a step that reflects the commitment of major shipping lines to transiting through the Suez Canal."

Astrid Maersk is the third Maersk vessel to transit the canal since a strategic partnership agreement was signed between the authority and the Danish group, following earlier passages by Maersk Sebarok in December and Maersk Denver in January.

The authority said its incentive and marketing measures introduced during 2025 attracted 784 vessels with a combined net tonnage of 36.6m tonnes, generating revenues of $170.4m.

The ship also benefited from Navigational Circular No. 3/2025, which offers a 15% toll reduction for container vessels with net tonnage exceeding 130,000 tonnes. Since May, the scheme has drawn 64 vessels totalling 9.9m tonnes in net tonnage.

On the same day as Astrid Maersk’s transit, the canal recorded 36 vessel passages with combined gross tonnage of around 2m tonnes, the authority said.

Rabiee said the canal has "begun to reap the first fruits of its efforts to restore major shipping lines", and emphasised the continuation of direct communication with clients and flexible marketing policies to gradually increase navigation rates.