Major shipping companies are pausing their activities in the Red Sea following the Dec. 15 attacks on two MSC cargo vessels by the Yemeni Armed Forces.
MSC (formerly Mediterranean Shipping Company), the world’s largest cargo shipping company, with nearly 20% of worldwide cargo vessels, has joined the Danish shipping company Maersk and the German firm Hapag-Lloyd in suspending operations in the Red Sea, reports CNBC. The French shipping company CMA CGM has also announced that it is suspending shipping.
While the Yemeni forces state that they are only targeting vessels shipping to or from Israel, the effect of these suspensions has been to close the Suez Canal for much of world shipping. Alternate routes can add weeks of travel.
