According to people familiar with the matter, shipping giant CMA CGM has decided on Friday to suspend all ships entering or leaving the Red Sea through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the specific time to resume.
The Houthis have disrupted shipping trade in the Red Sea for months, carrying out attacks on ships passing through the region. This week, a container ship operated by CMA CGM, the KOI, was attacked. French liner giant CMA CGM has suspended shipments in the Red Sea after US authorities said one of its container ships "may have been the target of a Houthi attack".
The Houthis have said they are targeting Israel and ships linked to Israel in a push to halt their offensive in the Gaza Strip, where Israel is battling Hamas militants.
The attacks prompted many shipping companies, including CMA CGM, to avoid the Red Sea, a vital route that typically carries about 12 percent of global seaborne trade, for a period in December.
To avoid the route, many shipping companies chose to bypass the Cape of Good Hope, which added considerable cost and time, leading many shipping companies to resume operations on the Red Sea route, including CMA CGM. However, many shippers once again opted to stop using the route after a new round of attacks in January.
According to Bloomberg, CMA CGM notified employees of the change on Friday morning and continued to make some transit voyages in the Suez Canal to maintain services in the Northern Red Sea, potentially transporting cargo to and from Saudi Arabia. Hapag-lloyd recently announced it would operate overland container operations in Saudi Arabia while avoiding the Southern Red Sea.
For now, the Red Sea crisis will continue for some time. The Houthis have vowed to continue attacks on ships linked to Israel and have said U.S. and British commercial vessels and warships are targets of retaliation. Some experts speculate that the crisis may last until the second half of this year.
https://www.cnss.com.cn/html/hyqy/20240205/352214.html
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