Freight costs from Asia to northern Europe have more than doubled in recent days as attacks by Houthi rebels on commercial ships in the Red Sea forced shipping companies to reroute cargo around the southern tip of Africa.
According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), since mid-November, the Iranian-backed militant group has carried out at least 24 attacks on commercial ships. The Houthi group, which has been involved in a civil war with Yemen’s internationally recognized government since 2014, claims to target ships linked to Israel in support of Palestinians in Gaza, although several ships with no ties to Israel were also attacked.
The Bahamian-flagged vehicle carrier “Galaxy Leader” and its entire crew, which have been held by the Houthis since they were seized on November 19, belong to a company partly owned by Israeli businessman Rami Ungar.
Shipping companies are increasingly changing their shipping routes away from the Red Sea and Suez Canal to avoid danger. Shipping analyst at Lloyd’s List Intelligence in London, Michelle Wiese Bockmann, said many ships were diverting their shipping routes to around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, a voyage that is much longer and more expensive.
“Trade (through the Red Sea) is down by about a third. But most of it is container ships. These are high-value goods sent from Asia to Europe. Only very few vehicles carrying vehicles pass through the Red Sea,” Bockmann told VOA. “Tanker ships carrying oil, particularly Russian crude – say from Russia to India and China – are hardly disturbed.” (em/hour)