Shipping firms foresee smaller profits in 2026 as Red Sea tensions ease

Global container liners are bracing for lower profits in 2026 as the potential reopening of the Red Sea shipping route weighs on freight rates, exacerbating oversupply issues and aggravating trade pains.

Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk, Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd, Japan’s Nippon Yusen and Chinese liners Orient Overseas International and Cosco Shipping Holdings are all expected to report weaker earnings in 2026 after an already difficult 2025 marked by tariff turmoil.

A resumption of traffic through the Red Sea would exacerbate existing “structural overcapacity issues,” analysts at Bank of America said.