Multipurpose vessel (MPV) operators remain strongly opposed to resuming Suez Canal transits under current Red Sea security conditions. While select container services cautiously return, MPV carriers continue prioritizing risk management, shipper consensus, and operational resilience over shorter routes. The stance reflects a structurally different risk calculus in breakbulk and project cargologistics.
Multipurpose vessel (MPV) operators remain firmly opposed to resuming transits through the Red Sea and Suez Canal, even as partsof the container shipping sector cautiously test a return. Industry sentiment indicates that current security conditions, combined with operational and commercial constraints unique to MPVs, make a resumption unjustifiable at this stage.
This divergence highlights the growing gap between containerized liner networks and the breakbulk and project cargo segments, where risk tolerance and voyage structures differ fundamentally.
In early February, partners within the Gemini Cooperation —including Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd — announced plans to route vessels in their ME11/IMX service through the Suez Canal, marking the first Gemini transit via the Red Sea in over two years.
However, MPV operators responding to the January One World Shipbrokers Market Sentiment Index (MSI) survey expressed overwhelming reluctance to follow suit. When asked to rate their willingness to transit the Suez under current conditions on a scaleof 1 to 10, half of respondents selected “1,” signaling outright refusal. Only three operators scored above 5, and none indicated full confidence. The average score of 2.8 underscores how entrenched opposition remains across the sector.
Unlike container liners operating within tightly controlled alliance networks, MPV voyages often involve multiple shippers,oversized cargoes, and complex discharge sequences. As a result, risk exposure is shared unevenly across cargo interests, insurers, and charterers.
Survey respondents emphasized that any return to the Suez would require broad shipper acceptance across multi-cargo voyages — acondition that remains difficult to achieve. Even if one cargo owneris willing to accept elevated risk, others may not, making route consensus fragile at best.
Semi-liner MPV operators with larger dead weight tonnage showed slightly more openness to reconsidering Suez transits, but these views remain the exception rather than the rule.
While overall Suez Canal transits trended upward during 2025, volumes remain approximately 50% below late-2023 levels. The data reinforces a central reality: traffic recovery does not equate to confidence restoration.
For MPV operators, the persistence of geopolitical risk —combined with limited mitigation options once a voyage is underway —continues to outweigh potential savings in distance or fuel.
Despite routing concerns, broader MPV market conditions remainstable. The latest MSI rose modestly to 53.4, signaling cautious optimism. In parallel, the Toepfer Multipurpose Index (TMI) edged upto $12,701 per day in February for standard 12,500-dwt vessels, reflecting steady charter demand.
Industry observers note that the sector entered 2026 in a balanced and resilient position. Forecasts made a year earlier for gradual improvement have largely held true, even amid geopolitical disruptions. Still, contributors warn that longer-term visibilityremains limited, shaped by elections, energy policy shifts, and uneven global investment cycles.
The refusal of MPV carriers to resume Suez transits is not ashort-term tactical decision — it reflects a structural reassessment of risk in today’s fragmented geopolitical environment.
For shippers, this reinforces the importance of:
As container networks experiment with selective returns, the MPV sector is signaling that resilience, not speed, remains the defining competitive advantage in project and breakbulk logistics.
