Sponsored By
Red Sea Crisis

The latest news and commentary on how the conflict in the Middle East is affecting the global maritime industry and shipping markets.

Top container lines reroute from Red Sea to avoid attacksTop container lines reroute from Red Sea to avoid attacks

MSC, CMA CGM, Maersk, and Hapag-Lloyd have all paused their vessels transiting the Red Sea and are rerouting via the Cape of Good Hope as Houthi militia step up attacks on commercial shipping.

Marcus Hand, Editor

December 18, 2023

2 Min Read
MSC Isabella at port in Singapore
The MSC Isabella is deployed on the Asia - Europe tradePhoto: MSC

The world’s largest container line MSC announced on Saturday that it was stopping all Red Sea vessel transits following an attack on the MSC Platinum III a day earlier. The vessel on sub-charter to Messina Line was attacked on 15 December and according to MSC suffered “limited fire damage” and had been taken out of service. There were no injuries to the vessel’s crew all whom are reported to be safe.

“Due to this incident and to protect the lives and safety of our seafarers, until the Red Sea passage is safe, MSC ships will not transit the Suez Canal Eastbound and Westbound. Already now, some services will be rerouted to go via the Cape of Good Hope instead,” MSC said.

CMA CGM has also stopped all of its vessels transiting the Red Sea which it announced on 16 December saying the situation in the Red Sea was further deteriorating and concern for safety was increasing.

“A such we have decided to instruct all CMA CGM containerships in the area that are scheduled to pass through the Red Sea to reach safe areas and pause their journey in safe waters with immediate effect until further notice,” the company said.

The CMA CGM Symi, chartered from Ofer family controlled Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS), was one of the earliest vessels to be attacked in the region and was struck by a drone on 24 November.

Related:Houthi drone attacks and hijackings - Who controls the seas?

The move by MSC and CMA CGM to suspend vessel transits of the Red Sea follow similar announcements by Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd. Maersk paused vessel movements on 15 December following a near miss of drone strike on the containership Maersk Gibraltar.

Lines including ZIM, had already been diverting some services from the region to take the much longer route around the Cape of Good Hope. A diversion by the Cape of Good Hope on a voyage from Shanghai to Rotterdam at a speed of 18 knots would increase the transit time from 25 to 33 days.

Large scale diversions could cause in the supply chain echoing the closure of the Suez Canal by the Ever Given in March 2021.

Houthi Militia have vowed to attack any vessel headed to Israeli ports, having previously targeted what it claimed to be Israeli-linked vessels.

Meanwhile Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), part of Cosco Shipping Group, has stopped accepting Israeli cargo until further notice citing “operational issues”.

Read more about:

MaerskCMA CGMMSC

About the Author

Marcus Hand

Editor

Marcus Hand is the editor of Seatrade Maritime News and a dedicated maritime journalist with over two decades of experience covering the shipping industry in Asia.

Marcus is also an experienced industry commentator and has chaired many conferences and round tables. Before joining Seatrade at the beginning of 2010, Marcus worked for the shipping industry journal Lloyd's List for a decade and before that the Singapore Business Times covering shipping and aviation.

In November 2022, Marcus was announced as a member of the Board of Advisors to the Singapore Journal of Maritime Talent and Technology (SJMTT) to help bring together thought leadership around the key areas of talent and technology.

Marcus is the founder of the Seatrade Maritime Podcast that delivers commentary, opinions and conversations on shipping's most important topics.

Conferences & Webinars

Marcus Hand regularly moderates at international maritime events. Below you’ll find a list of selected past conferences and webinars.

Get the latest maritime news, analysis and more delivered to your inbox
Join 12,000+ members of the maritime community

You May Also Like