MSC, the world's largest shipping company, announced on 16 December 2023 that its ships "will not transit the Suez Canal Eastbound and Westbound" until "the Red Sea passage is safe" after one of its ships was attacked by Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen (MSC, BBC, CNBC). The date an MSC ship actually transits the Suez Canal is immaterial, and any local traffic including the Red Sea coasts of Egypt, Israel, and Sudan and/or the west coast of Saudi Arabia would not count.

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NOTE 26 December 2023: An announcement that MSC is merely preparing to resume transits through the Suez Canal would not count.

NOTE 16 January 2024: Announcements for the MSC cruise line subsidiary MSC Cruises or other non-cargo subsidiaries would not count.

The question closed "Not before 29 March 2024" with a closing date of 29 March 2024.

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