55 ships diverted to the Cape of Good Hope route around the continent of Africa to avoid passing through the Red Sea, during the period from November 19 to today, Sunday, after the Houthi group’s attacks in Yemen increased on ships heading to Israel, “which is a small percentage compared to the crossing of 2,128 ships.” During that period,” according to what Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, Osama Rabie, said.
Rabie added – in a statement today – that the Suez Canal is closely following the ongoing tensions in the Red Sea, and is studying the extent of their impact on navigation traffic in it, in light of some shipping lines announcing that they will temporarily divert their flights to the Cape of Good Hope.
According to Rabie, 77 ships crossed the Suez Canal today, Sunday, with a total net tonnage of 4 million tons, including some ships belonging to shipping lines that announced temporarily diverting their flights from the Suez Canal.
The Chairman of the Authority said that the Suez Canal will remain the fastest and shortest route, as the savings rates for flights heading through the Suez Canal between the continent of Asia and Europe range from 9 days to two weeks, depending on the ports of departure and arrival.
On November 19, the Yemeni Houthi group announced the seizure of the “Galaxy Leader” cargo ship, owned by an Israeli businessman, in the Red Sea and taking it to the Yemeni coast.
The attacks continued against ships that the group says are linked to Israel, which prompted several container shipping companies to suspend their flights through the Red Sea until further notice.
The most prominent of these companies are 3 that are classified as the largest container shipping companies in the world, namely “MSC” and “AP Moller-Maersk”, in addition to “CMA-CGM”.
Shipping costs
Reuters quoted sources as saying that the cost of shipping goods through the Red Sea is rising with the escalation, amid fears that the impact of the matter will extend to disrupting global supplies sailing through the region.
Duncan Potts, a former vice admiral in the British Royal Navy and former commander of maritime security in the Gulf, said that the Houthi attacks have the potential to become a global strategic economic threat much more than just a regional geopolitical threat.
The London insurance market has listed the southern Red Sea among the high-risk areas, and ships must notify insurance companies of sailing through these areas, as well as pay an additional premium, usually for a coverage period of 7 days.
War risk premiums rose last week to a range between 0.1% and 0.15% to 0.2% of the ship’s value, compared to 0.07% the previous week.
The US envoy to Yemen, Tim Lenderking, told Reuters on Friday that the United States wants to form the “broadest possible naval coalition” to protect ships in the Red Sea and send an “important signal” to the Houthis that further attacks will not be tolerated.
About 10% of oil trade and 8% of liquefied gas trade pass through the Suez Canal, including about two-thirds of crude oil coming from the Gulf region, according to data from the American Bloomberg agency.
About 30% of the world’s shipping containers pass daily through the Suez Canal – which is 193 kilometers long – and about 12% of the total global trade of all goods.
The share of goods coming from the south of the canal – crossing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait – amounts to about 47% of the volume of goods transiting the Suez Canal, according to statistics from the Suez Canal Authority.
In addition, about 98% of goods and ships coming from the south of the Suez Canal in Egypt pass through the Bab al-Mandab Strait in Yemen.
