Category: Sea

Since December 2023, nearly 30 commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea have faced missile strikes or near misses from the Yemen-based Houthis, including container ships owned by Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM. As of last week, 550 container ships have been diverted away from the Suez Canal or are p... Read more

The US and UK carried out eight strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen on Monday, as the Iran-aligned armed group continues to target commercial shipping in the Red Sea, with no sign that the conflict will de-escalate anytime soon. While many hoped that the situation in the Red Sea might be a shor... Read more

Despite coalition military action, Houthi rebels continue to attack commercial shipping and with container shipping line’ schedules showing Cape of Good Hope routing for vessels into early February and beyond, it is clear that they do not expect short-term access through the Suez Canal and Red ... Read more

Despite the widely reported news of container shipping lines rerouting vessels around southern Africa to avoid danger to crew and cargo in the Red Sea following attacks on ships by Houthi militants, the RoRo car carriers have a mixed policy on whether to transit through the Suez. While the sup... Read more

Leading retailers including IKEA and NEXT have warned that the diverting of vessels aways from the Suez canal and around southern Africa will result in delays and may restrict the availability of certain products. Re-routing container ships around Africa adds 3,500 nautical miles to a typical ... Read more

With over 20 years' experience in freight and logistics, the majority of which has been in the ocean freight environment and specifically the LCL product, in the UK and overseas, we are pleased to introduce our new Senior LCL Commercial Manager, Jane Kenny, who is leading this critical service ar... Read more

With the container shipping lines diverting around Africa until the Red Sea maritime security situation improves, the uncertainty and unpredictability that surrounds schedules could fuel demand for air cargo as shippers seek stability of services and certainty of transit times. Air cargo deman... Read more

Following the sharp escalation of attacks on container ships in the Bab-al-Mandeb strait off the coast of Yemen last week, major container shipping lines are diverting vessels around the southern tip of Africa, rendering the Suez routing unavailable for an unknown period. With the Suez route c... Read more

The number of container ships diverting away from the Suez Canal and around the Cape of Good Hope had already reached 262 ships, or 12% of the global fleet by New Year’s Eve, rising a further 5% after the weekend’s Houthi attacks and will continue to grow until the Red Sea security situation ... Read more

In our 2023 supply chain review we said that we were hopeful that the formation of a coalition naval task force to patrol the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden would restore maritime security quickly, but Sunday’s two attacks on the Maersk Hangzhou suggest it could be some time before the route... Read more

The danger to container shipping approaching the Suez Canal comes at a time when the other key maritime gateway, the Panama Canal has been restricting transit numbers and draught limits due to drought driven low water levels. Due to the impact of the prolonged Panama Canal drought carriers hav... Read more

2023 was supposed to be the year that global supply chains bounced back from pandemic lockdowns and factory shutdowns, trade wars, tariffs and war in Europe, but now container shipping is disrupted by attacks in the Red Sea and restrictions on the Panama Canal. The COVID pandemic and its after... Read more