The CMA CGM container ship “Palais Royal”, the largest in the world to be powered by liquefied gas, on December 14, 2023 in Marseille (AFP/Archives/Christophe SIMON)
The giant CMA CGM, the leading French maritime carrier, announced on Saturday that it was suspending, like the Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd groups, the crossing of the Red Sea by its container ships after attacks perpetrated against ships by Houthi rebels from Yemen.
The group “decided to order all CMA CGM container ships in the region that must pass through the Red Sea to go to safe areas” or not to leave waters deemed safe, “with immediate effect and until “until further notice”, according to a press release.
“The situation continues to deteriorate and security concerns are increasing,” says CMA CGM to justify its decision.
On Friday, the Danish giant Maersk and the German Hapag-Lloyd announced a similar measure, the first “until further notice” and the second at least until Monday.
In recent weeks, the Houthis have increased attacks near the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait, which separates the Arabian Peninsula from Africa and through which 40% of international trade passes.
Several missiles and drones were shot down by US and French warships patrolling the area.
United Kingdom Defense Minister Grant Shapps announced on Saturday that the British destroyer HMS Diamond had shot down a “suspected attack drone targeting merchant shipping in the Red Sea” overnight from Friday to Saturday.
Yemeni rebels, close to Iran, have warned that they will target ships sailing off the coast of Yemen with links to Israel, in response to the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
They said Friday that boats would not be targeted off Yemen if they met their directives, but that ships bound for Israeli ports would be “prevented from sailing in the Arabian Sea and Red Sea until the entry of food and medicine that our brothers in the Gaza Strip need.
The Red Sea has been watched like milk on fire by the international community for years: this “highway of the sea” linking the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, on which some 20,000 ships circulate each year, is a geopolitical and commercial zone major.
To avoid the Red Sea, ships are bypassing Africa via the Cape of Good Hope, extending their journey by two weeks, noted researcher Noam Raydan of the Washington Institute in a note on December 7.
© 2023 AFP
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