Factbox: Shipping firms avoid Red Sea as Houthi attacks increase

Orient Overseas (International)

18/12/2023 11:05

(Adds Mediterranean Shipping Company)
       Dec 18 (Reuters) - 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 re-route vessels to avoid the area. 
    Below are companies (in alphabetical order) that are
considering or have decided to pause shipping via the Red Sea:

    CMA CGM  CMACG.UL 
    French shipping group CMA CGM on Dec. 16 said it was pausing
all container shipments through the Red Sea in the wake of
attacks on commercial vessels in the region.

    HAPAG-LLOYD  HLAG.DE  
    German container shipping line Hapag Lloyd said on Dec. 15
it was examining whether to pause sailings via the Red Sea,
hours after reporting one of its ships had been attacked. 
    A projectile believed to be a drone struck its vessel Al
Jasrah while sailing close to the coast of Yemen. No crew were
injured.

    MAERSK  MAERSKb.CO 
    Denmark's A.P. Moller-Maersk on Dec. 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. 
    The ship was targeted by a missile while travelling from
Salalah, Oman, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the company said.

    MSC
    Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) said on Dec. 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. The decision will disrupt sailing schedules by several
days, the Switzerland-based group said.

    OOCL
    Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) has stopped cargo
acceptance to and from Israel until further notice due to
operational issues, the shipping company owned by Hong
Kong-based Oriental Overseas (International) Ltd  0316.HK  said
on Dec. 16.

 (Reporting by Paolo Laudani, Izabela Niemiec in Gdansk; editing
by Milla Nissi and Jason Neely)
 ((Paolo.Laudani@thomsonreuters.com;))