Shipping profit boom evaporates on US tariffs and Red Sea reopening 

The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index has lost 57% from its peak in July

Maersk has forecast underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $6bn to $9bn in 2025, down from $12.1bn last year. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

Global shippers from AP Moller-Maersk to Cosco Shipping, which logged windfall earnings last year, may see a reversal of fortunes in 2025 as a potential reopening of the Red Sea route and punitive US tariffs loom.

Plans by US president Donald Trump to introduce new import levies are damaging trade, while the prospect of a lasting ceasefire in the Middle East could redirect traffic back through the Suez Canal, driving rates lower.