Latest attacks in the Red Sea endanger global shipping
The maritime transport groups Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd announced this Friday the temporary suspension of navigation through the Suez Canal and Red Sea after several ships suffered attacks in recent days off the coast of Yemen.
A spokesman for the German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd, Nils Haupt, confirmed by telephone that the decision was taken today in view of the situation and will be in effect until next Monday, when it will be reviewed again.
Hapag-Lloyd had earlier reported that one of its cargo ships, the Al Jasrah, was attacked in Red Sea waters, amid a wave of assaults by Houthi rebels and Somali pirates on the strategic trade route.
The company indicated that there were no injuries and that the vessel continued on its course, while a crisis cabinet was convened to address the situation.
The Al Jasrah under the Liberian flag is en route to Singapore, where it had departed from the Greek port of Piraeus, according to data from the Marinetraffic tracking portal.
Maersk also suspended navigation
Shortly before, the Danish Maersk, the largest maritime freight transport company in the world, had announced a similar decision. “Following the incident with the Maersk Gibraltar yesterday and another attack today against a cargo ship, we have instructed vessels in the area en route to the Bab al Mandeb Strait to suspend navigation for the time being and await instructions,” reported the group in a statement to the media.
The Maersk Gibraltar was the target of a missile attack this Thursday, which did not hit, according to the Danish group. A Sydbank analyst, Mikkel Emil Jensen, commented that if other shipping companies adopt similar decisions, the impact on freight rates and delivery times could be significant.
“This will mean that we can have a Suez Canal 2.0 with increased rates, longer delivery times and less reliability of supply,” he said in statements cited by the Danish agency Ritzau.
In recent days there have been attacks by Houthi rebels, who have threatened all ships originating or destined for Israel and who this Friday claimed responsibility for two attacks against two container ships, both flying the Liberian flag, off the coast of Yemen. .
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock today demanded that attacks by the Houthis stop “immediately” and thanked Saudi Arabia for shooting down some drones and rockets launched by the Yemeni rebels.
These attacks “not only endanger Israel but also international maritime navigation and the freedom of trade routes,” the minister said at a press conference in Berlin with her Lebanese counterpart, Abdullah Bou Habib. In addition, he demanded the immediate release of the Galaxy Leader ship, which has been confiscated by the Houthis since last month.