LIST: Shipping firms avoiding Red Sea as Houthi attacks increase

Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen have stepped up attacks on vessels in the Red Sea to show their support for Palestinian Islamist group Hamas fighting Israel in Gaza.

The attacks, targeting a route that allows East-West trade, especially of oil, to use the Suez Canal to save the time and expense of circumnavigating Africa, have pushed some shipping companies to reroute vessels.

Below are companies (in alphabetical order) that have decided to pause shipping via the Red Sea:

CMA CGM

French shipping group CMA CGM said on December 18 it was rerouting some vessels via the Cape of Good Hope, and had instructed all its other container ships that were scheduled to pass through the Red Sea to reach safe areas and pause their journey until further notice.

Euronav

Belgian oil tanker firm Euronav said on December 18 it would avoid the Red Sea area until further notice.

Evergreen

Taiwanese container shipping line Evergreen said on December 18 its vessels on regional services to Red Sea ports would sail to safe waters nearby and wait for further notification, while ships scheduled to pass through the Red Sea would be rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope. It also temporarily stopped accepting Israeli cargo.

Frontline

Norway-based oil tanker group Frontline said on December 18 that its vessels would avoid passages through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, boosting the rates customers must pay for crude transport.

Hapag-Lloyd

German container shipping line Hapag-Lloyd said on December 18 it would reroute several ships via the Cape of Good Hope until the safety of passage through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea could be guaranteed.

A projectile believed to be a drone struck its vessel Al Jasrah on December 15, while sailing close to the coast of Yemen. No crew were injured.

HMM

South Korean container shipper HMM said on December 19 it had from December 15 ordered its ships from Europe that would normally use the Suez Canal to reroute via the Cape of Good Hope for an indefinite period of time.

Maersk

Denmark’s AP Moller-Maersk on December 15 said it would pause all container shipments through the Red Sea until further notice, following a “near-miss incident” involving its vessel Maersk Gibraltar a day earlier.

On December 19, Maersk said vessels that were due to sail through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden would be rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope.

MSC

Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) said on December 16 its ships would not transit through the Suez Canal, with some already rerouted via the Cape of Good Hope, a day after Houthi forces fired two ballistic missiles at its MSC Palatium III vessel.

Ocean Network Express

Ocean Network Express (ONE), a joint venture of Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines, Nippon Yusen, and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, said on December 19 it had decided to reroute vessels away from the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. Instead, ONE will navigate its ships around the Cape of Good Hope or temporarily pause their journey and reposition them in safe areas.

OOCL

Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) stopped cargo acceptance to and from Israel until further notice, the shipping company owned by Hong Kong-based Oriental Overseas (International) Ltd said on December 16.

Wallenius Wilhelmsen

Norway’s Wallenius Wilhelmsen said on December 19 it would halt Red Sea transits until further notice. It said rerouting vessels via the Cape of Good Hope would add one to two weeks to voyage durations.

Yang Ming Marine Transport

Taiwan’s Yang Ming Marine Transport said on December 18 it would divert ships sailing through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden via the Cape of Good Hope for the next two weeks.

– Rappler.com