Just as shipping stability is returning to the Suez Canal, Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz – a key transit route for oil and gas.
On 19 June, the Suez Canal reopened to very large container vessels after conflict-related closures, and soon after, the French-operated container ship OSIRIS was the first vessel to pass through the canal from the Bab al-Mandeb Strait since March 2024.
Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Chairman and Managing Director Admiral Ossama Rabiee announced the ship’s transit, saying that “geopolitical challenges and the successive changes in regional developments impose an urgent need to deal flexibly with surrounding market variables and make effective strategic decisions supported by flexible pricing policies that contribute to encouraging major shipping lines to return to transit through the canal.”
The OSIRIS was the first ship to take advantage of the program, which is a first for the SCA and includes a ...
