Two more major shipping firms announced the suspension of passage through the Red Sea on 16 December, bring the total number of companies up to four.
No ship is in danger as long as it doesn't go to an Israeli port. The US and EU are forcing shipping companies not to use the Red Sea in order to create an excuse to attack Yemen.
— Seyed Mohammad Marandi (@s_m_marandi) December 17, 2023
Yemen has already survived Western backed starvation and genocide.
Yemen also has powerful allies. https://t.co/FuNKJe66Q2
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and CMA CGM – Italian-Swiss and French companies – announced their decision on Saturday, one day after two Israel-bound vessels were attacked by Yemeni Armed Forces on 15 December.
Four Major Shipping Firms Halt Red Sea Route After Houthi Attacks https://t.co/VpQmiHdTLD
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) December 17, 2023
On Friday, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, two major shipping firms, also announced their decision to halt operations in the Red Sea.
Yemeni naval forces launched missiles against two ships headed for Israel that day.
“The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces […] carried out a military operation against two container ships (MSC Alanya and MSC Palatium III), which were heading to the Israeli entity, targeting them with two naval missiles,” the Yemeni army said in a statement.
On Thursday, 14 December, Sanaa announced it carried out a drone strike on the Israel-bound Maersk Gibraltar vessel. Days earlier, Yemeni naval forces launched a missile on a Norwegian ship that was carrying oil and was destined for the Israeli port of Ashdod.
Sanaa’s forces also captured an Israeli-linked vessel last month, taking it back to the coast of Yemen.
As a result of Yemen’s pro-Palestine naval operations, shipping costs in the Red Sea have surged significantly, with companies, including Israeli companies, being forced to resort to expensive reroutes and hiked prices.
Earlier this month, Israeli shipping company Zim began implementing reroutes around Africa.
War risk premiums – required to be paid by vessels sailing through high-risk areas – rose during the week to up to 0.2 percent of the value of a ship, from 0.007 percent the previous week, market estimates showed, translating “into tens of thousands of dollars of additional costs for a seven-day voyage,” Reuters reported.
“These attacks have the potential to become far more of a global strategic economic threat than simply a regional geopolitical one,” said Duncan Potts, a former vice admiral in the British navy, on 12 December.
Last week, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed reports that Washington is looking to form a naval task force with its allies, aimed at protecting Israeli shipping in the Red Sea.
In response, Iran’s Defense Minister Mohammed Reza Ashtiani said on 14 December that such a force would face “extraordinary problems.”