Fearing Yemeni Ops, Shipping Giant Abandons Red Sea

By Staff, Agencies

The US branch of Danish shipping giant Moller-Maersk has said it will follow its parent company and stop sending merchant vessels through the Suez Canal and Red Sea due to the operations of the Yemeni Ansarullah revolutionary movement.

Two vessels operated by Maersk Line [MLL] – the Maersk Detroit and Maersk Chesapeake – as well as their US Navy escort, were targeted by a Yemeni cruise missile in the Bab-el-Mandeb strait on Wednesday, the company and the US said.

The Yemeni army’s spokesman Yahya Saree announced that several missiles hit their target and forced the ships to turn back.

“The US Navy has turned both ships around and is escorting them back to the Gulf of Aden,” a Maersk statement said, adding that “following the escalation of risk, MLL is suspending transits in the region until further notice.”

MLL operates US-flagged and US-crewed ships. The branch continued to use the Suez route until Wednesday, while its parent company suspended travel in the waterway on January 5.

Traffic via the Suez Canal – the fastest route from Asia to Europe – makes up around 15% of the world’s commercial shipping, according to the White House. In order to avoid the risk of Yemeni operations, some of the biggest freight companies in the world have been forced to reroute their vessels around the coast of Africa, facing increased costs and skyrocketing insurance premiums.

The Houthis have vowed to continue their attacks on ships heading to “Israel” until the aggression stops and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted.