Attacks on vessels heading through the Red Sea towards the Suez Canal will impede world trade and add to costs, Logistics UK has warned, as it condemned drone and boat attacks on merchant ships launched by Houthi rebels in Yemen as part of their support for Hamas in the war against Israel.
Head of Trade, Nichola Mallon, said: “Seafarers, vessels and the cargoes on them, as civilian trade, have the right under international law to move safely. These indiscriminate attacks from shore-based installations in Yemen are of serious concern from a safety and international trade perspective.”
If ships are not safely able to use the Red Sea route, they will have to be diverted south and around the Cape of Good Hope — adding about 10 days to transit times and estimated arrival dates in North Europe and Mediterranean ports.
Any prolonged closure will, Ms Mallon points out, add to the costs of goods, already under pressure from the effects of wider inflation, especially if flows of oil and natural gas are affected. Major operators including Maersk and BP are already pausing sailing through the region due to the security risk.
This interruption to global shipping comes at a time when there are significant challenges to movement through the Panama Canal because of drought, Logistics UK has highlighted.
It has welcomed the news that a number of national governments are working to secure the safe passage of essential trade in international waters and to protect the safety of crew, the free passage of ships and the continued functioning of this key international trade route.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said: “These illegal attacks are an unacceptable threat to the global economy, undermining regional security and are threatening to drive up fuel prices. This is an international problem that requires an international solution. That is why HMS Diamond has joined Operation Prosperity Guardian. This new task force will protect shipping and vital trade routes in the Red Sea, where large amounts of goods and oil transit through to Europe and on to the UK.”
