· In the past several weeks as the war with Hamas and Israel has continued several ocean freight carriers have found themselves the target of missiles in the Suez Canal. OOCL container ship appears to have been the first attacked as they were hit with a projectile in the Bob al-Mandab straight. Damage appears to have been limited and crew were not injured so OOCL proceeded through the Suez Canal. Maersk also experienced an attack and had a near miss incident with a missile that appears to have been fired from Yemen in the Bab al-Mandab strait on Thursday December 14, 2023. Then on Friday December 15, 2023, a Hapag-Lloyd vessel was struck by a fired missel. Additionally, there have been reports of vessels being boarded by rebel forces.
· As a result of the increasing tension and safety concerns, multiple carriers are currently stopping service through the narrow strait. This has multiple impacts depending on the current location of vessels on the water. For those already at the pass they have stopped operations essentially parking at the entrance to wait until it is safer to pass. For those on the water but able to be rerouted they are instead being diverted around the Cape of Good Hope.
· The impacts of these changes being implemented by many carriers including Yang Ming, Maersk, ONE, and Hapag-Lloyd will undoubtedly have huge impacts to transit time. Delays should be expected, and it is unclear how long this will continue to impact shipments but will likely be an ongoing struggle for the foreseeable future.
December 19, 2023
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