Consequences of the Gaza conflict: Suez Canal is closed for transport firms – enormous detours for ships | EUROtoday

As of: 5:13 p.m | Reading time: 3 minutes

DThe Suez Canal, an vital artery for world commerce, is briefly closed for main transport firms’ routes following assaults by Yemeni Houthi rebels on ships within the Red Sea. Instead, they are going to proceed to journey on Asia-Europe routes through the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa till additional discover. “The fact that shipping companies are taking the detour of more than 6,000 kilometers around Africa is evidence of the extraordinary danger situation in the Red Sea,” mentioned world commerce professional Vincent Stamer from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) to the German Press Agency on Monday.

The Hamburg container transport firm Hapag-Lloyd, for instance, needs to keep away from passage by way of the Suez Canal till additional discover. Hapag-Lloyd selected Monday to redirect “several ships via the Cape of Good Hope,” a spokesman mentioned after discussions with a disaster crew. “This will continue until passage through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea is safe again for ships and their crews.” Industry chief MSC additionally confirmed in a message to prospects on Monday that MSC ships had been crusing by way of the Suez Canal to the east and West won’t be navigated till passage by way of the Red Sea is secure. “Already some services are being rerouted and going via the Cape of Good Hope instead.”

The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, offering the shortest sea route between Asia and Europe. Around ten p.c of all world commerce passes by way of the Red Sea.

The detours are more likely to considerably delay deliveries. Estimates vary from just a few days to 2 weeks. Stamer, who data and evaluates international ship actions in actual time on the IfW, assumes a delay of round ten days. However, Stamer doesn’t count on main disruptions in international provide chains, reminiscent of those who occurred through the corona pandemic.

“At that time, there were major delivery bottlenecks due to extremely high demand for durable goods from the Far East and global lockdowns,” mentioned Stamer. “This situation has largely normalized. A material shortage is not to be expected for several months because of the detour around Africa.” Hapag-Lloyd additionally factors out that the pandemic, along with damaged provide chains, and the accident of the freighter “Ever Given” within the Suez Canal got here collectively. “It’s difficult to compare with the current situation.”

According to Stamer, freight charges within the container ship community might rise barely once more. However, costs for container transport at sea have fallen considerably since their peak through the pandemic. “In addition, the transport costs from Asia to Europe are only two percent, even for the cheapest goods,” says the IfW professional.

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Since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have repeatedly attacked Israel with drones and rockets, amongst different issues, and attacked ships within the Red Sea to forestall them from passing by way of to Israel. On Friday, the container freighters “Al Jasrah” from Hapag-Lloyd and the “MSC Palatium III” had been broken in assaults.