Cruise lines: African repositioning via Cape Town not a viable Suez Canal alternative

As instability persists in the Red Sea, cruise lines are absorbing losses by avoiding the Suez Canal and sailing without passengers via South Africa—raising questions about the long-term viability of rerouting and the potential for new itineraries around Africa.

The cruise industry’s global deployment strategy has been significantly impacted by ongoing security concerns in the Red Sea, with leading cruise operators opting to reroute ships around the southern tip of Africa—a costly alternative that adds weeks to repositioning itineraries and increases operating costs, especially as these cruises are predominantly sailed without passengers.

Angelo Capurro, Executive Director at MSC Cruises, confirmed during a recent panel at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2025 in Dubai that MSC is currently absorbing substantial financial losses as a result of the shift. 

“The Suez Canal is an issue. For us, it means $50 million lost when bringing a ship down,” he said. “But we cant use Suez yet, we prefer not to take the risk.”

In previous years, MSC Cruises repositioned between Europe and the Arabian Gulf via the Red Sea and Suez Canal. 

Now, ships like MSC World Europa—MSC’s largest vessel and a flagship in the region for the 2026/27 cruise season—are forced to sail around South Africa and West Africa, often without passengers on board. 

“That’s 35 days of sailing with no revenue,” Capurro said. “It affects our entire planning cycle.”

In an interview with Cruise Arabia & Africa, Capurro explained that the ship cant sail with passengers due to the lack of appropriate cruise infrastructure in Africa. “It’s a very limited itinerary in terms of infrastructure,” he said. “There are no ports in West Africa for instance that can take a ship the size of MSC World Europa.”

The change in routing has profound implications for cruise logistics. Repositioning cruises are typically offered with passengers on board, helping operators offset fuel, staffing, and operational costs during the shoulder seasons. However, concerns over crew and guest safety have led cruise lines to forgo these commercial voyages, instead absorbing the full cost of the detour.

Dave Goodger of Tourism Economics, speaking during the same Cruise Arabia panel, said global deployment continues to rise in line with demand, but the Red Sea disruption has caused a sharp drop in traffic between the Mediterranean and the Arabian Gulf. 

“We’ve seen fewer vessels sailing through the Suez Canal,” he said. “But the ships that are committed to the region are larger and staying longer.” According to Goodger, ship days in the Arabian Gulf have more than doubled since 2019, and average vessel size is up 26%.

Celestyal Cruises, which homeported in Doha for the first time this past season, also had to reposition its ships around Africa. The cruise line operates a two-ship fleet, and despite the challenges posed by the Red Sea crisis, deployed Celestyal Journey to the region for the 2024/25 season, and has doubled capacity for the 2025/26 season with two ships.

“We had to take the long way round,” said Janet Parton, Vice President of Business Development, Celestyal Cruises. “It was a non-commercial repositioning—it took longer and cost more. That’s a real challenge for smaller lines.”

Although the rerouting is challenging, there could be an opportunity to expand Africa-focused itineraries in the longer term. “West Africa still has very poor port infrastructure for ships of our size,” said Capurro. “But if those conditions change, we would reconsider.” 

The appeal of new destinations such as Namibia, Ghana, and Senegal is clear, but infrastructure, customs processes, and terminal facilities remain barriers to regular passenger service.

The financial strain of operating lengthy repositioning voyages without guests cannot be overstated. 

Cruise lines carefully plan deployment to maximise efficiency and profitability, and seven-night itineraries remain the industry standard because they align with airlift schedules, onboard spending models, and crew rotations. 

Longer voyages—even those with passengers—require different logistics, attract a different demographic, and tend to deliver lower per-day revenue.

“Whenever we go beyond seven nights, we change the kind of customer,” said Capurro. “We need to ensure the product aligns with their expectations. That’s why seven-night itineraries are our key product.”

This preference is not unique to MSC. Most cruise lines focus on one-week cycles because they offer flexibility and repeatability. 

Guests can embark on a seven-night journey with manageable travel times and predictable scheduling. These cruises also allow lines to maximise port fees, shore excursion revenues, and onboard spending while keeping ship turnover and staffing streamlined.

Still, the Red Sea crisis has forced the industry to test new models. Some cruise lines are experimenting with partial passenger voyages—allowing guests on segments of longer itineraries, Cape Town to Dubai or vice versa for example—or developing new markets to make longer voyages viable. But this depends heavily on demand, infrastructure readiness, and regional cooperation.

Capurro hinted at this during the ATM panel, noting that the MSC Group remains committed to the region despite the challenges. “The Arabian Gulf was a top-performing region globally during the winter season,” he said. “That level of interest gives us the confidence to bring bigger ships.”

Indeed, MSC has already confirmed that Explora Journeys, its new luxury cruise brand, will debut in the Gulf in the 2026/27 winter season. According to Capurro, the region’s appeal to both international and local markets justifies the expansion. 

“We see a strong local market developing,” he said. “That gives us peace of mind when planning deployment.”

The shift around Africa has also prompted discussion on whether ports in the southern hemisphere—particularly Cape Town—could emerge as viable homeports for future itineraries. 

“Everything started for MSC in South Africa, in cargo shipping,” Capurro reflected during an interview with Cruise Arabia & Africa on the sidelines of the wider panel discussion. “It’s an honour for us to still be there and to see the development of infrastructure like the Nelson Mandela Cruise Terminal in Durban, a facility capable of hosting large cruise ships.”

From a regional perspective, stakeholders such as Cruise Saudi and Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism are pushing for increased collaboration to strengthen intra-regional deployment. 

The Cruise Arabia Alliance, launched in 2023, is focused on creating seamless experiences for cruise passengers across Gulf ports and beyond.

“This is not just about the Gulf,” said Justin Zaiton of Cruise Zaiton. “Cruise Arabia connects the Red Sea, the Gulf, the Indian Ocean and more. That’s where the opportunity lies.”

While cruise lines wait for the Red Sea corridor to reopen safely, industry leaders remain cautiously optimistic. Infrastructure development, airlift coordination, visa simplification, and continued investment in port facilities across the Gulf and Africa will be key to long-term success.

As Capurro concluded, “We are designing deployment for 2027 and 2028 already. We are committed to this region. But we need stability—and partners that help us deliver it.”