War on Gaza: German transport giant, Hapag-Lloyd reroutes ships through Africa to avoid Houthis at Red Sea

Admin I Monday, Dec. 18, 2023

 

HAMBURG  – German transport giant Hapag-Lloyd said its container ships will avoid the Red Sea following recent attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on commercial vessels.

Hapag-Lloyd’s crisis team has decided to redirect “several ships” around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa instead of traversing the Red Sea via the Suez Canal, a spokesman said on Monday.

“This will continue until passage through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea is safe again for ships and their crews,” he said. Hamburg-based Hapag-Lloyd is the world’s fifth largest container liner shipping company.

It announced late last week that it was temporarily pausing its transports through the Suez Canal, but Monday’s announcement of the ships being rerouted takes the crisis measure a step further.

One of Hapag-Lloyd’s ships was fired upon on Friday in the strait between Yemen and Djibouti. Some containers on board were damaged but the ship’s structure was not affected and there were no casualties.

Other industry giants are choosing the longer route around Africa out of concern for the safety of their ships travelling between Asia and Europe.

The world’s largest shipping company MSC has told its customers that MSC ships will not sail through the Suez Canal until passage through the Red Sea is safe.

Oil giant BP also paused all of its tanker journeys through the Red Sea due to attacks by militants in Yemen.

The country’s Shiite Houthi rebels have started to attack merchant ships in the Red Sea after Israel launched its military campaign in the Gaza Strip.