Many major ocean carriers have halted their ships from entering the Red Sea following the lead of Marsk and Hapag Lloyd in suspending operation after the projectile attacks from the Yemen-based Houthi militia.
As carriers reroute their goods, the Hong Kong based OOCL and Taiwan-based Evergreen have also temporarily stopped accepting cargo to and from Israel until further notice.
The suspension came as two more commercial vessels were under fire on Monday with the MSC Clara and Norwegian oil tanker Swan Atlantic both attacked with naval drones originally from Yemen territory. The Houthis claimed responsibility for both incidents. No crew members were injured on the Swan Atlantic.
Last Friday, two containerships, Hapag Lloyd’s Al Jasrah and the MSC Palatium III, were both hit with Houthis drone missile strikes. No crew members were injured, the companies confirmed. The Houthis confirmed that they also targeted MSC Alanya, but the vessel was not hit.
The attacks on the MSC and Hapag Lloyd ships occurred a day after another projectile missed the Maersk Gibraltar vessel.
The moratorium on shipments through the Red Sea, a key passage that enables ships coming from Asia to travel through Egypt’s Suez Canal could cause delays in global trade to close out 2023.
Admiral Ossama Rabiee, the chairman and managing director of the Suez Canal Authority, said in a statement on Sunday that the navigation through the Suez Canal was flowing “normally as usual,” but said 55 vessels had shifted their routes South to go around the Cape of Good Hope since November 19th. On that date, the Houthi rebels hijacked a commercial ship in the Red Sea, the Bahamas-Galaxy Leader. The ship was brought to the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah. Rabiee called the 55 vessels a significantly low number, in comparison to the 2,128 vessels that transited the Suez Canal in that period.
Rabiee stressed that the Sues Canal is the fastest and shortest route for vessels travelling between Asia and Europe. He said that travel time could be cut from nine days to two weeks depending on the port of origin and the port of destination. Travelling via the Cape of Good Hope adds 10 to 15 percent shipping costs.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will announce Operation Prosperity Guardian, the formation of a new maritime protection force ensuring that the Red Sea is safe for commerce shipping. Austin is expected to make the announcement during his trip to the Middle East this week. The U.S. Response comes as international naval forces continue their combat operations to deter any further escalation out of Yemen.
POSTSCRIPT: A U.S. warship, the USS Carney, shot down 14 suspected attack drones over the Red Sea. The drones were targeting commercial ships, according to American and British military. The fight for free shipping is just short of open warfare. It must stop.
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