Customer Advisory: Red Sea Attacks and Suez Canal Bypass

December 18, 2023

Container Ship

Current Situation

The Red Sea is a vital global trade waterway connecting Asia, Europe, and Africa. However, it is also a hotspot for geopolitical tensions, piracy, and armed attacks. In the past few weeks, several incidents have disrupted maritime traffic and raised security concerns in the area. This is claimed to be a consequence of the Israel / Palestine conflict, which sees attacks on Commercial vessels thought to be headed for Israel.

At the beginning of December, several attacks happened on both Navy vessels and commercial vessels in the Red Sea. This has evolved into targeted attacks on commercial Container carriers in the last week.
On December 14th, Maersk Gibraltar, a Hong Kong-flagged Container vessel owned by Maersk, was involved in a near-miss missile attack in the Bab al-Mandab strait in the Red Sea
On December 15th, Al Jasrah, a Liberian-flagged Container vessel owned by Hapag Lloyd, was attacked and hit by a missile fired from Yemen in the Bab Al-Mandab strait. The vessel sustained damage on the port side, and at least one container fell overboard. No crew was reported injured in this incident.
On December 15th, the MSC Alanya, a Liberian-flagged Container vessel owned by Mediterranean Shipping Company, was also involved in a near-miss missile attack.
On December 15th, the MSC Palatium III, a Liberian-flagged Container vessel, sub chartered to Messina Line, was struck by a missile attack, causing limited fire damage. All crew members are reported safe, and the vessel has been removed from service.

These incidents have increased the risk of shipping in the region, and we have seen action taken by most of the world's largest container carriers (VOCCs) to mitigate the risk for their employees and vessels operating in these waters.

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Carrier Responses

Below is a recap of the current situation as announced by carriers as of today; however, the situation is very fluid and can change quickly:

Maersk announced on Friday, December 15th, that it would reroute some of its vessels scheduled to transit the Suez Canal to now go via the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, adding several days to the transit time.
CMA CGM announced on Sunday, December 17th, that it would reroute some of its vessels scheduled to transit the Suez Canal to now go via the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, adding several days to the transit time.
HAPAG-LLOYD announced on Friday, December 15th, that it suspended all sailings through the Red Sea until further notice.
MSC announced on Sunday, December 17th, that it would reroute some of its vessels scheduled to transit the Suez Canal to now go via the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, adding several days to the transit time.
Other Carriers have made similar statements about bypassing or avoiding the Red Sea and Suez Canal, Like ONE, ZIM, yang Ming, and HMM.
Evergreen, COSCO, and OOCL have stopped accepting cargo to Israel with immediate effect and until further notice; however, there are no statements yet on suspending service through the Red Sea.

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Going Forward

This conflict will have massive implications on Global trade, and all shippers should expect severe delays, vessels out of place for weeks or months to come, and significantly increased costs on all services transiting the Red Sea. The full scope of implications is unclear, but we at JAS will do our utmost to keep you updated on the situation as it unfolds and work with all customers and partners to provide the best solutions possible.
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For any questions and concerns, please contact your local JAS office.

Thank you.

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