Data from the Trade Capacity Outlook database has identified the exact Asia-Europe container vessels routed through the Red Sea in recent weeks, or scheduled to do so in the coming weeks.
The findings come as the container shipping industry begins normalising a return to the Suez Canal, moving away from the round-Africa routing that has been standard since the Red Sea crisis began in December 2023.
The data shows the share of container vessel capacity routed through the Red Sea/Suez Canal for the head-haul direction from Asia to Europe, the Europe-to-Asia back-haul, and the combined share across both.
The head-haul has remained relatively stable, with Red Sea normalisation running at 13-25 per cent. Shipping lines have moved more decisively on the back-haul. However, the share of capacity routed through Suez rose from 18-26 per cent in August to 25-47 per cent in September.
Averaged across both directions for the full month, total Red Sea normalisation for September stands at 27 per cent.
The underlying figures point to a much stronger preference for normalising back-haul routes from Europe to Asia.
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Services connecting the Mediterranean to Asia are being prioritised, with a September Red Sea share of 57 per cent, compared with just 27 per cent for vessels departing North Europe.
The back-haul focus suggests shipping lines are prioritising the repositioning of vessel capacity back to Asia, addressing operational gaps caused by recent port congestion and delays at Asian hubs.
By concentrating on vessels departing the Mediterranean, carriers are targeting those with the shortest return time to Asia, allowing them to plug capacity shortfalls more quickly than services returning via North Europe.
The pattern reflects a broader recalibration underway across the industry as carriers weigh the commercial benefits of shorter Suez transit times against the security risk assessments that have kept much of the fleet on the longer Cape of Good Hope routing since late 2023.
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