BERLIN (Reuters) -Hapag-Lloyd has decided to continue diverting its vessels around the Suez Canal for security reasons, a spokesperson for the German container shipper told Reuters on Friday, adding a next assessment would be made on Jan. 2.
Shipping giants including Hapag-Lloyd and Denmark’s Maersk earlier this month stopped using Red Sea routes and the Suez Canal after Yemen’s Houthi militant group began targeting vessels, disrupting global trade.
Instead, they rerouted ships around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope to avoid attacks, charging customers extra fees and adding days or weeks to the time it takes to transport goods from Asia to Europe and to the east coast of North America.
The Suez Canal situation remains fast changing, however, and Maersk is planning to sail almost all container vessels travelling between Asia and Europe through the Suez Canal from now on while diverting only a handful around Africa, a Reuters breakdown of the group’s schedule showed on Thursday.
The Suez Canal is used by roughly one-third of global container ship cargo, and re-directing ships around the southern tip of Africa is expected to cost up to $1 million extra in fuel for every round trip between Asia and Northern Europe.
(Reporting by Elke Ahlswede, writing by Kirsti Knolle, editing by Rachel More)
