London - Container lines deciding to navigate back to the Red Sea is arguably the most important development to watch for in the global shipping market next year. And it’s not a matter of ‘if’, but ‘when’. And should one big company decide it’s worth the risk, others will surely follow. The Suez Canal has been a vital link for modern East–West trade for decades, handling over 15% of global goods trade and up to twice that share of global container traffic, particularly consumer goods.

Detouring around the Cape of Good Hope has been common . . .