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©(Ahmad GHARABLI, AFP)
The main shipping companies have announced that they are stopping transits via the Suez Canal, due to the increase of Houthi attacks in response to the Israel-Hamas conflict. The latest example is the French CMA-CGM and Swiss MSC, which announced such a measure on Saturday 16 December.
Like Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, the French company CMA CGM (third largest in the world) and the Swiss company MSC (the world's largest shipping company), announced on Saturday that they were suspending their container ships from crossing the Red Sea following attacks on ships by Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The CMA CGM Group has "decided to order all container ships in the region that have to pass through the Red Sea to reach safe areas" or not to leave waters deemed safe, "with immediate effect and until further notice," according to a statement.
"The situation continues to deteriorate and security concerns are increasing," said CMA CGM to justify its decision.
On Friday, the Danish giant Maersk and the German Hapag-Lloyd announced a similar measure, the first "until further notice" and the second at least until Monday.
In recent weeks, the Houthis have stepped up their attacks near the strategic Bab el-Mandeb strait, which separates the Arabian Peninsula from Africa and through which 40% of international trade passes.
Several missiles and drones were shot down by American and French warships patrolling the area.
UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps announced on Saturday that the British destroyer HMS Diamond had shot down a "suspected attack drone targeting merchant shipping in the Red Sea" on Friday night.
Yemeni rebels close to Iran have warned that they will target ships sailing off the coast of Yemen with links to Israel, in retaliation for the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
They said on Friday that ships would not be targeted off the coast of Yemen if they complied with their directives, but that ships bound for Israeli ports would be "prevented from sailing in the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea until the entry of food and medicine needed by our brothers in the Gaza Strip."
The Red Sea has been closely watched by the international community for years: this "motorway of the sea" linking the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, on which some 20,000 ships travel every year, is a major geopolitical and commercial zone.
To avoid the Red Sea, ships bypass Africa via the Cape of Good Hope, extending their journey by two weeks, as researcher Noam Raydan of the Washington Institute pointed out in a note on December 7.
Malo Pinatel, with AFP
Like Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, the French company CMA CGM (third largest in the world) and the Swiss company MSC (the world's largest shipping company), announced on Saturday that they were suspending their container ships from crossing the Red Sea following attacks on ships by Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The CMA CGM Group has "decided to order all container ships in the region that have to pass through the Red Sea to reach safe areas" or not to leave waters deemed safe, "with immediate effect and until further notice," according to a statement.
"The situation continues to deteriorate and security concerns are increasing," said CMA CGM to justify its decision.
On Friday, the Danish giant Maersk and the German Hapag-Lloyd announced a similar measure, the first "until further notice" and the second at least until Monday.
In recent weeks, the Houthis have stepped up their attacks near the strategic Bab el-Mandeb strait, which separates the Arabian Peninsula from Africa and through which 40% of international trade passes.
Several missiles and drones were shot down by American and French warships patrolling the area.
Drone downed by a British ship
UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps announced on Saturday that the British destroyer HMS Diamond had shot down a "suspected attack drone targeting merchant shipping in the Red Sea" on Friday night.
Yemeni rebels close to Iran have warned that they will target ships sailing off the coast of Yemen with links to Israel, in retaliation for the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
They said on Friday that ships would not be targeted off the coast of Yemen if they complied with their directives, but that ships bound for Israeli ports would be "prevented from sailing in the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea until the entry of food and medicine needed by our brothers in the Gaza Strip."
The Red Sea has been closely watched by the international community for years: this "motorway of the sea" linking the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, on which some 20,000 ships travel every year, is a major geopolitical and commercial zone.
To avoid the Red Sea, ships bypass Africa via the Cape of Good Hope, extending their journey by two weeks, as researcher Noam Raydan of the Washington Institute pointed out in a note on December 7.
Malo Pinatel, with AFP
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