From the Red Sea to Singapore
Hapag-Lloyd ships take huge detours
December 21, 2023, 3:39 p.m
Shipping traffic through the Red Sea is severely affected by attacks by Houthi rebels. While several countries are preparing to show their presence on site with a military alliance, the German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd is sending all of its ships affected by the turn of the year to other routes.
Due to the uncertain situation in the Red Sea, Germany’s largest container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd wants to reroute around 25 ships by the end of the year. All ships that were planned for the Red Sea and the Suez Canal by December 31st would be sent to other routes, a company spokesman explained when asked. Further decisions would be made by the end of the year. Hapag-Lloyd had already generally announced that it would divert several ships to the longer route via the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of South Africa. The spokesman said that the Hapag-Lloyd ship “Al Jasrah”, which was attacked near Yemen on December 15, was on its way to Singapore.
In Yemen, the Houthi rebels have declared solidarity with the radical Islamic Hamas in the Gaza Strip and have repeatedly attacked ships off the coast they control. Other major shipping companies such as MSC and Maersk have also drawn conclusions from attacks on ships in the area. The Suez Canal is an important shortcut for the sea route, especially between Asia and Europe. The spokesman explained that Hapag-Lloyd does not yet have any detailed information about the international alliance announced by the USA to protect merchant shipping in the Red Sea.
Is the German Navy taking part in international operations?
The Foreign Office and the Defense Ministry confirmed that the examination of the Bundeswehr’s possible participation in the alliance forged by the USA had not yet been completed. “Operation Prosperity Guardian” is intended to protect commercial ships from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who are supported by Israel’s arch-enemy Iran.
The federal government recently called on the leadership in Tehran to stop attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels on shipping traffic in the Red Sea. “This has a serious impact on world trade. This has a serious impact on the safety on these ships and that is unacceptable,” said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit. “There is freedom of the sea and also on the high seas. And when that is threatened, the global community is called upon to reduce such threats,” he said.