Shipping companies Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, and CMA CGM are rerouting vessels away from the Suez Canal and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, after the escalation of conflict in the Middle East.
‘Due to the deteriorating security situation in the Middle East region following the escalating military conflict, we have decided…to pause future Trans-Suez sailings through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait for the time being,’ Danish container shipping group Maersk said in a statement on March 1.
The company had only just begun to start services using the Suez Canal, after two years of disruption caused by attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Houthi rebels in Yemen. It said its services in the UAE, Oman and Qatar may also be disrupted.
German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd said it is also rerouting its IMX container shipping service around southern Africa, adding that it would apply a ‘war risk surcharge’ for cargo to and from the Upper Gulf, the Arabian Gulf and the Persian Gulf from March 2.
CMA CGM is also rerouting vessels and applying an emergency conflict surcharge for cargo to and from Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Yemen, Qatar, Oman, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Djibouti, Sudan and Eritrea as well as the Red Sea port of Ain Sokhna.
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd said they were suspending all vessel crossings in the Strait of Hormuz until further notice. However, Maersk added that it was still accepting cargo to the Middle East.
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has suspended all cargo bookings to the region until further notice.