Shipping firms to stay away from Red Sea amid Yemen retaliation against Israel

Danish giant Maersk and German carrier Hapag-Lloyd have suspended all journeys through the Red Sea due to retaliatory military operations by Yemeni armed forces against the Israeli-bound vessels. 

The two liner giants announced in a recent joint statement that their newly-formed “Gemini Cooperation” alliance will bypass the Red Sea and instead use the Cape of Good Hope for its operations, starting from February 1, 2025.

The decision to take longer route around Africa was made after "thorough consideration, and given the continued safety concerns in the Red Sea," the companies said in their customer notice.

Both liners have stated that they will revert to the Red Sea route once it is safe to do so.

“As the situation remains highly dynamic, Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk will return to the Red Sea when it is safe to do so,” Maersk said in its customer advisory.

The Gemini alliance, named after the Latin and English word for “twins” outlined in September 2024, included a resumption of the Red Sea route or a diversion via the longer Cape of Good Hope.

Following further evaluation, the companies decided to implement the Cape route as the Red Sea situation remains volatile.

The “Gemini Cooperation” will require approximately 340 vessels, compared to the 300 ships that would have been used had the companies resumed operations through the Red Sea.

Experts say the longer route also demands more container capacity, with around 3.7 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) required for the Cape network, versus 3.4 million TEU for the Red Sea route.

Yemen’s military has been targeting Israeli ships and those bound for Israeli ports since November 2023 in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

The attacks against the Israeli-bound ships by the Yemeni armed forces in the Red Sea have since late last year forced container vessels to sail around southern Africa. That has absorbed some of the vessel overcapacity in the container industry, which in turn has helped boost container rates.

Yemeni forces release footage of anti-Israel attack, warn shipping companies

Yemeni armed forces have released a video of a recent attack on an oil tanker in the Red Sea.

The Yemenis have made it clear that they will not hesitate to carry out qualitative operations against all hostile targets in defense of their homeland and reaffirmation of their unwavering support for the Palestinian nation.

They said earlier that strikes targeting those ships in the Red Sea will not stop unless the regime ends its genocidal campaign against the besieged Palestinian territory.

International shipping companies, however, are safe to sail in the area if they are neither owned by Israel nor destined for ports in the occupied Palestinian territories, according to the Yemeni armed forces.

In recent months, Yemen’s aerospace units have struck vital target near Tel Aviv and other cities in the occupied territories.

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