Four of the largest shipping companies of the world — the switzerland MSC and the danish Maerskas well as the French CMA and the Chilean-German Hapag-Lloyd— have announced the suspension of his routes through the Red Sea, following the escalation of attacks against ships of Yemen’s Houthi rebels, allies of Hamas. These four companies have more than 40% of global market share.
Just one week of Christmas, This announcement could compromise freight traffic in the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. The Suez Canal is one of the busiest routes of the world, in which every day they navigate more than 50 boats“which demonstrates its fundamental role in the global merchandise trade as explained on the social network X (formerly Twitter) by the shipping company Hapag-Lloyd.
“The recent wave of illegal attacks represents a direct threat to international trade and maritime security in the Red Sea,” said UK Defense Minister Grant Shapps, on the social network merchant navy“in that area.
According to AFP, United Kingdom had announced at the end of November the sending of the warship “HMS Diamond” to the Gulf to respond to “growing concerns” about the security of maritime trade routes in the area, after the Houthis warned that they would attack ships sailing in front of the Yemen coast with ties to Israel in response to the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Attacks on shipping companies
In recent weeks, several missiles and drones were demolished by American and French warships patrolling the area. But it was at the end of this week when the attacks intensified and even directly affected the commercial giants.
MSC reported on Friday the attack on the ship container ship MSC PALATIUM III. Although there was not injured and the damage to the ship was “limited”, the company then made the decision not to transit the Suez Canal “in an east or west direction” “until passage through the Red Sea is safe” to “protect the life and safety” of its employees.
The giant Maersk also suffered attacks on Friday, which produced the same reaction regarding the passage of its ships through the strategic Strait of Bab al Mandab, the suspension of this route “until further notice”, according to AFP. For his part, the German shipowner Hapag Lloyd temporarily suspended – at least until Monday – passage through the area after suffering a fire in one of its boats after being hit by “an unidentified object.”
“The CMA CGM Group is deeply concerned due to the recent attacks on commercial ships that are taking place in the Red Sea region. During the last few days we have gone increasing prevention measures to guarantee the safety of our vessels and their crews that navigate these waters. The situation is deteriorating even more so and increases security concerns. We have given the instruction to all our container ships that are scheduled to pass through the Red Sea to reach safe areas and pause their journey in safe waters with immediate effect until further notice,” the French group announced this Saturday.
Go around Africa
Related news
The main alternative for ships that want to avoid Suez is to cross the Indian Ocean and pass through the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) to border the African continent to Europe. That is what MSC has advanced that it will do with “some” services, although this route is more long and expensive that the alternative crosses the Red Sea and will affect the “schedules” of the ships that were going to cross Suez “for several days.”
MSC and Maersk They are the world’s first and second container operator, with a 25% joint fee of the global market, according to the platform Alphaliner, specialized in maritime transport. CMA CGM It is the third, with the 12.80% of the market, followed by Cosco, with 10.80%. Hapag-Lloyd occupies fifth position with a 7% From the market.