Red Sea Ceasefire: A Wait-and-Watch Moment for Breakbulk Shipping – Drewry | 02/12/25

The Red Sea ceasefire and the gradual return of container traffic through the Suez Canal place the breakbulk sector in a transitional phase, as shorter routes will reduce tonne-mile demand and release capacity, pushing down day rates and long-haul charter demand for general cargo and project cargo, while container lines are expected to reclaim cargo that had temporarily shifted to multipurpose vessels — such as steel coils, bagged or packaged goods, palletised machinery, pipes and small modules — increasing competitive pressure in the market; despite gradual improvement, full normalization of Suez routings is not anticipated before the second half of 2026. Link to Article