EMEA News
Hapag-Lloyd to Continue Avoiding Red Sea Until at Least January
Container line Hapag-Lloyd is expecting to continue instructing its ships to avoid the Red Sea, and by extension the Suez Canal, until at least the start of next year.
The firm announced a pause in its ships entering the Red Sea on Friday, and that pause is now set to be extended for at least the next two weeks, UK broadcaster Sky News reported on Monday, citing comments from Nils Haupt, a senior communications director at the shipping company.
"Today in the crisis meeting we decided to no longer have ships crossing the Red Sea," Haupt was cited as saying.
"It's basically not safe for our crew, it's not safe for the vessel, and it's not safe for the cargo of our customers."
Several other leading container lines and tanker firms have made similar decisions in recent days in response to a spate of attacks on commercial shipping by Yemen's Houthi movement.
The container industry as a whole refraining from using Suez and taking longer routes around Africa could add 2% to global bunker demand for however long the situation lasts.
Hapag-Lloyd is the world's fifth-largest container line by capacity.
