President Joe Biden is attempting to rally US allies to put together a multinational naval force to protect shipping in the Red Sea and in the Bad Al-Madeb Strait from Houthi threats.
US concerns were heightened following a Houthi spokesperson’s claim, on Saturday, that the movement will target any ship that is heading for an Israeli port regardless of which flag it is flying.
“If Gaza does not receive the food and medicines it needs, all ships in the Red Sea bound for Israeli ports, regardless of their nationality, will become a target for our armed forces,” a Houthi spokesperson said on Saturday.
The White House said that a protective force is a “natural response” after Houthis launched missile and drone attacks on vessels transiting the Red Sea. In its latest report the US CentCom reported that the French multi-mission frigate, Languedoc, had brought down two Houthi fired drones, the drones were said to have been fired from Yemen.
The 20-mile-wide entrance to the Red Sea’s southern entrance between Yemen, Eritrea and Djibouti, the Bab al-Mandeb or the gate of tears, has become the focus of Houthi drone and missile attacks on commercial shipping and, at the extreme northern end of the narrow waterway is the southern reach of the key Suez Canal waterway.
According to the maritime consultancy Alphaliner Houthi Rebel attacks on vessels transiting the Red Sea have led some operators to re-route container ships to the much longer, but much safer route around Africa’s Cape Horn.
“Recent acts of violence ranged from boarding the vessel at sea and taking the crew hostage to land based drone strikes against transiting merchant ships,” said the consultant.
Alphaliner said the majority of attacks had taken place in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and that up to 4 December, 12 container vessels had been diverted from the Red Sea Route to the Cape of Good Hope, with another six ships expected to also divert to Cape Horn.
“This mainly concerns vessels on Asia - Europe & Med services. Among the vessels that have already started their diversion are three units of 4,250 teu, three ships of 5,000 - 6,000 teu, four vessels of 15,000 teu and one unit of 19,000 teu,” said Alphaliner.
According to the consultant vessels operating at 18 knots that divert to Cape Horn such as a vessel from Shanghai - Barcelona voyage will increase its journey time from 21 to 32 days. And Shanghai - Rotterdam travel increases from 25 to 33 days.
Unlike Cape diversions at times of low demand, which are mainly aimed at economising on Suez Canal fees, on eastbound services, current re-routing plans will affect both east and westbound voyages.
So far, it remains to be seen whether carriers will deploy additional tonnage to compensate for the longer trips via the Cape, or whether shipping lines will simply skip some departures.
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