Oil and Shipping Giants Halt Travel via Vital Water Route
Multiple oil and shipping companies have announced that they will avoid the Red Sea due to recent attacks, causing oil prices to rise significantly on Monday.
Large shipping companies and oil firms have suspended transit through the Red Sea to avoid attacks by the Yemen-based Houthi militant group amid the Israel–Hamas war. This announcement led to sharp gains in oil prices.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, saw a 2.7 percent increase to $78.68 a barrel, while U.S. oil also rose 2.7 percent to around $73.38 a barrel by Monday morning.
On December 18, Norwegian oil and gas firm Equinor announced that it had re-routed some vessels that had been heading toward the Red Sea. Similarly, Belgian oil tanker firm Euronav stated that it would avoid the Red Sea area until further notice.
French shipping group CMA CGM announced on December 16 that it was pausing all container shipments through the Red Sea.
Furthermore, oil giant BP revealed on December 18 that it had temporarily paused all transits through the key waterway due to the deteriorating security situation for shipping in the Red Sea.
Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk confirmed on December 15 that it would pause all container shipments through the Red Sea following a “near-miss incident” involving its vessel Maersk Gibraltar. German container shipping line Hapag Lloyd said on December 18 that it would re-route several ships via the Cape of Good Hope until the safety of passage through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea could be guaranteed.
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) announced on December 16 that its ships would not transit through the Suez Canal, with some already rerouted via the Cape of Good Hope, after Houthi forces fired two ballistic missiles at its MSC Palatium III vessel. This decision will disrupt sailing schedules by several days.
Orient Overseas Container Line has stopped cargo acceptance to and from Israel until further notice, and Taiwan’s Yang Ming Marine Transport said it would divert ships sailing through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden via the Cape of Good Hope for the next two weeks.
Meanwhile, the USS Carney, a U.S. Navy destroyer, responded to a distress call from a commercial ship that was attacked in the Red Sea. The Houthis, a group once designated as a terrorist organization, claim responsibility for attacks on two MSC vessels last week.
Ali al-Qahoum, a member of the Iran-backed Houthi Ansarullah group, stated that Yemen and the Houthis, who control much of Yemen, are prepared to respond to any moves that the United States, Israel, or other country might make in the near future. He emphasized that the group’s operations against Israel will continue.
Furthermore, the U.S. military launched strikes targeting eastern Syria and Iraq, including ammunition storage facilities and weapons depots that were being used by Iranian or Iran-backed forces.
Reuters contributed to this report.
