CAIRO, 16th September, 2026 (WAM) -- The COSCO-affiliated container ship OOCL PORTUGAL crossed the Suez Canal for the first time on Wednesday, sailing from Belgium to China as the authority reported a rise in container-ship tonnage.
Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Chairman Osama Rabie said the voyage marked COSCO SHIPPING Lines’ first southbound canal transit since tensions in the Red Sea and Bab El-Mandeb disrupted the route. The vessel joined the northern convoy, the authority said Wednesday.
The combined net tonnage of container ships transiting the canal reached 72.1 million tonnes from January through August, up 54.2 percent from 46.7 million tonnes in the same period of 2025, Rabie said. The figure measures vessel tonnage, not the number of containers carried.
OOCL PORTUGAL is about 400 metres long and 61.3 metres wide, with a gross tonnage of 247,000 tonnes and capacity for up to 24,000 twenty-foot equivalent units.