Shipping containers to Europe delayed as ships avoid Red Sea: too dangerous due to many attacks | Abroad

On Friday, a Hapag-Lloyd ship was attacked in the Red Sea and on Thursday a missile struck a Maersk ship sailing off the coast of Yemen. The Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, said the crew did not respond to a warning. According to them, the ship sailed to Israel. Since the bombing of Gaza began after the Hamas attack on October 7, several cargo ships in the Red Sea under fire.

The German Hapag-Lloyd will pause shipping traffic at least until Monday, December 18. Maersk has not given an end date. Director Annet Koster of the Royal Association of Dutch Shipowners (KVNR) expects that Dutch shipping companies will also join. “It wouldn’t surprise me if a large number of people came to the same decision. It’s just really dangerous there now.” According to Koster, this will cause delays for containers that come to Europe by water.

This is the most important shipping route for ships between Asia and Europe. The Suez Canal accounts for about 12 percent of global trade. The alternative route via the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa provides thousands of kilometers of additional sailing distance and could result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional costs for ships, for example in fuel. Emissions also increase if ships have to sail longer. On average it takes about 13 to 14 days more. While a ship from Shanghai takes 52 days to reach the port of Rotterdam via the Suez Canal, it otherwise takes at least 65 days.

The Royal Association of Dutch Shipowners and the umbrella International Shipping Chamber demanded in a statement that the rebels immediately stop the attacks. “These attacks are a blatant violation of international law. States with influence in the region must urgently work to stop and de-escalate the actions of the Houthis in attacking seafarers and merchant vessels.” It speaks of an ‘extremely serious threat to international trade.’

According to a spokesperson for the port of Rotterdam, it is still ‘premature’ to say what the consequences will be for the supply of goods from Asia. This concerns the largest category of ships, with at least 24,000 containers. Eight of these arrive in the port of Rotterdam every day. Since the last Maersk and Lloyd ships that have passed through the Suez Canal will not reach our country for another week, there is still some time to estimate what will happen, the spokesperson said.

The world learned in the spring of 2021 what it means if it really is not possible to sail through the Suez Canal. When the Ever Given ship blocked the shipping route for five days, it disrupted international shipping traffic to such an extent that major delays occurred.