Maersk to continue to pause all cargo movement through the Red Sea after attack
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Maersk paused its ships sailing through the Red Sea for 48 hours on Dec 31 after Houthi rebels tried to board a Singapore-flagged vessel.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
OSLO - Denmark’s Maersk will continue to pause all cargo movement through the Red Sea following a weekend attack on one of its ships, the company said on Jan 2.
It said it will further assess the constantly evolving situation.
The container shipping giant on Dec 31 paused all Red Sea sailings for 48 hours
United States military helicopters repelled the assault and killed 10 of the attackers.
Maersk had more than 30 container vessels set to sail through Suez via the Red Sea, an advisory on Jan 1 showed, while 17 other voyages were put on hold.
The Hangzhou, which was hit by an unknown object during the attack, was able to continue on its way with LSEG shipping data showing the vessel now close to the Suez Canal.
The Iranian-backed Houthis, who control parts of Yemen after years of war, started attacking international shipping in November in support for Palestinian armed group Hamas in its war with Israel
Major shipping groups, including Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, in December stopped using Red Sea routes, instead taking the longer journey around southern Africa via the Cape of Good Hope.
After the deployment of a US-led military operation to protect ships, however, Maersk on Dec 24 announced it would resume using the Red Sea.
Rival Hapag-Lloyd on Dec 29 said it would continue to avoid the Red Sea. In an update on Jan 2, it said it would continue to divert its vessels away from the Suez Canal and around the Cape of Good Hope for security reasons for another week.
“We monitor the situation closely day-by-day, but will continue to reroute our vessels until Jan 9,” a spokesperson for the world’s fifth biggest container liner said in reply to a query.
The company, will decide on that day whether or not to continue rerouting ships, the spokesperson added, referring to the results of a meeting of its crisis committee.
According to Maersk, its alliance partner Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) was continuing to divert its vessels via the Cape of Good Hope.
MSC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Suez Canal is used by roughly one-third of global container ship cargo.
Re-directing ships around the southern tip of Africa is expected to cost up to US$1 million (S$1.3 million) extra in fuel for every round trip between Asia and Northern Europe. REUTERS
