Hundreds of Ships Diverted as Red Sea Attacks Continue

As some shipping companies begin to trickle back into the Red Sea, many are still avoiding the region as attacks on container vessels continue.

Many major carriers have resorted to diverting their ships around Africa to avoid passing through the Red Sea — a diversion that adds as many as 14 days to shipping times, and could raise prices for everything from oil and gas to grain and manufactured goods. As much as 15% of all global trade passes through the Red Sea each year, or about $1 trillion in goods annually.

As of Thursday, 319 vessels are impacted by the Red Sea situation, and 255 have been diverted around the Cape of Good Hope, according to the latest tally by Kuehne + Nagel International. The total capacity of affected vessels is estimated at 4.4 million shipping container units. This was down from 365 vessels with a total capacity of 5 million containers on Wednesday.

The latest count excludes vessels from A.P Moller-Maersk, the second-largest carrier in the world with a fleet of around 740 ships, which has said it will resume Red Sea transits via the Suez Canal.

Maersk, which was among the first to pause shipments earlier this month, made the decision to route ships through the area again on Sunday following the establishment of an international task force led by the U.S. to address the growing threat from the Houthis, an Iran-backed Yemeni rebel group. 

The carrier told The Messenger, however, that the risk is still present and that it will not hesitate to re-evaluate the security situation in the region and divert vessels again if necessary for the safety of its crew.

The Houthis have targeted Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea since Israel launched its war in Gaza following Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks. The group launched its latest drone attack against an MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co.-operated container ship heading for Pakistan on Tuesday. MSC, the world’s largest carrier, has not reported any plans to resume transiting the Suez Canal.

Gerard DiPippo, a senior analyst with Bloomberg Economics, said that despite the military strength demonstrated by the U.S.-led coalition, it may not be enough to bring major shipping companies’ vessels back into the Red Sea.

“The longer the Houthi attacks continue, the more pressure the U.S. will face to go on the offensive, which risks regional escalation,” DiPippo said.

Data from Clarksons Research released Thursday shows that arrivals into the Gulf of Aden, connected to the Red Sea by the Bab el-Mandeb strait, fell by 40% between Dec. 22 and 26 from the average during the first half of the month, Bloomberg reported. In the Suez Canal, transits similarly dropped about 45% between Dec. 22 and Dec. 26 for vessels heading into the Red Sea.

Ryan Petersen, founder and chief executive officer of Flexport, previously told The Messenger that 30% of all global containerized freight moves through the Suez Canal, with each ship carrying around $1 billion in goods. These bottlenecks could wipe 25% of global effective capacity from the market, he said.

This could have a “significant impact” on container rates, as the change in the movement of goods to Europe and the U.S. could have a widespread inflationary effect if the situation isn't resolved soon, according to Petersen.