The war between Israel and Hamas, moving towards the Red Sea, is beginning to disrupt world trade. In response to attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in this area, the British oil giant BP announced on Monday December 18 that it would suspend all transit via the Bab Al-Mandab Strait. Four of the five largest shipping companies in the world, namely the French CMA CGM, the Danish Maersk, the Italian-Swiss MSC and the German Hapag-Lloyd, took a similar decision over the weekend. Supported by Iran, the Houthis have warned that they will target any ship with links to Israel, in response to the bombing of Gaza.
On Saturday, a US destroyer shot down more than a dozen drones launched from rebel-controlled areas of Yemen in the Red Sea. On Monday, the Norwegian owner of the Swan-Atlantic announced that his ship had been targeted by a “unidentified object”triggering a fire that was quickly brought under control. “Attacks on commercial vessels in the region are alarming and pose a significant threat to the safety and security of seafarers,” explained Maersk in a press release published Tuesday, December 19, announcing at the same time as CMA CGM that it was redirecting part of its ships to the southern tip of Africa.
Just 27 kilometers wide, the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, through which two thirds of European imports pass, is a crucial maritime highway for global trade. Some of the stranded ships are stationed at the entrance to the Red Sea while waiting for the situation to improve. Each day of immobilization costs their shipowner between 400,000 and 600,000 dollars (between 365,000 and 548,000 euros). Others headed for the Cape of Good Hope, in the south of Africa, which reduced the journey from Shanghai to Rotterdam from an average of thirty-five days to forty-five.
“Shipowners save on Suez Canal toll fees, which can reach $600,000 per ship, but have to spend more because of longer journeys, including on fuel to increase speed and make up for delays”, explains Pierre Cariou, professor at Kedge Business School (Bordeaux) and specialist in maritime transport. According to its estimates, bypassing the Suez Canal should result in additional costs of between 5% and 10%.
Supply disruptions
With this new route, ships will no longer serve ports on the Mediterranean Sea, from Port Said (Egypt) to Marseille via Genoa (Italy), which risks disrupting the transport of goods in this region. This bypass also penalizes Egypt, a country in crisis, which derives a large part of its revenue from toll fees on the Suez Canal, which reached $9.4 billion in 2022, or 10% of its budget. annual.
You have 40% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.