EMEA News
Hapag-Lloyd CEO Sees No End to Red Sea Crisis in Sight
Hapag-Lloyd's chief executive has said that the risk to shipping in the Red Sea area could last up to six months.
Rolf Habben Jansen made the comments in a Hamburg news briefing.
"We don't think it will be over the day after tomorrow," the head of the German ship operator was reported as saying by Reuters.
"Whether it'll be one, three or five months - I don't know," he said.
A political deal and a mission to protect freight vessels might bring a resolution within six months, the chief executive added.
Houthi military forces based in Yemen are targeting cargo vessels transiting the Red Sea towards the Suez Canal. Latterly naval vessels have also been a target.
In response, merchant ships have opted to go round the Cape of Good Hope, a route that incurs higher transport costs.
The crisis has also produced a spike in war risk insurance premiums.
According to Dryad Global's latest security bulletin, the attack on the chemical tanker Marlin Luanda marked the 31st such attack against international shipping.
Air strikes by US and UK forces have focused on depleting Houthi stocks of missiles as opposed to drones, the former representing a more significant threat to the safety of vessels than the latter, the bulletin said.
