On Friday two major global shipping companies, Maersk of Denmark, and Hapag-Lloyd of Germany, announced they were halting all shipments through the Red Sea as of Friday, due to security risks which have developed along the route.
Both companies said in their statements that the suspensions of shipments was being done in response to a number of recent attacks on ships traversing the route, which were perpetrated by Houthi rebels based out of Yemen.
In a statement, Maersk said, “We are deeply concerned about the highly escalated security situation in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The recent attacks on commercial vessels in the area are alarming and pose a significant threat to the safety and security of seafarers,” The company was referring to two recent attacks on its ships, the Maersk Gibraltar and another attack on a container ship that was launched on Friday.
The company has ordered all ships which were heading for the southern entrance to the Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, to pause their passages until further notice.
Following the attack on its ship the Al Jasrah on Friday, Hapag-Lloyd issued a statement to CNBC saying that it was halting all traffic of container ships through the Red Sea until Monday. At that point it will determine its course going forward.
Nils Haupt, the spokesman for the company said, “It’s very worrisome because ships heading to the Suez have to pass through the strait. We are stopping some ships, but there is no general rule yet, though this could change.”
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a key route linking Asia and Europe. It connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, and then the Indian Ocean on one side, and the Suez Canal, and the Mediterranean Sea on the other side. The passageway sees roughly 12 percent of all global trade pass through it, and 30 percent of all global container shipments.
Since the initiation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Yemen-based Houthi rebels have launched attacks on ships attempting to traverse the passageway in a show of support for Hamas militants in Gaza. Although the attacks were initially claimed to focus only on ships with some connection to Israel, shipping companies believe the attacks pose a threat to all vessels, as later attacks have been launched on ships with little to no apparent connection to Israel. So far, at least eight ships have been attacked.
On Friday, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) said it, “deplores the actions of the Houthis,” as it demanded the immediate end of the attacks. It also issued a call for “states with influence in the region” to use their influence to “mitigate the threat to shipping presented by the Houthis” and “de-escalate what is now an extremely serious threat to international trade.”
The association noted that already some shipping companies had redirected shipments around the region “which adds cost and delay to global trade.”
