The situation in the Red Sea continues to deteriorate and tensions continue to rise. On the 18th and 19th, the US military and the Houthis continued to attack each other. A spokesman for the Houthi armed forces said on the 19th local time that the group fired several missiles at a US ship “Kaim Ranger” in the Gulf of Aden and hit the ship. The US military said the missile fell into waters near the ship, causing no injuries or damage to the ship. Belgian Defense Minister Ludevina Dedondel said on January 19 that the Belgian Defense Ministry will participate in the European Union escort mission in the Red Sea.

The situation in the Red Sea continues to be tense, after CMA CGM announced on the 19th that its NEMO service, which is operated jointly with Mediterranean Shipping, avoids the Red Sea route to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa; Maersk’s website subsequently issued a notice that due to the very unstable situation in the Red Sea and all available information confirming that the security risk remains at an extremely high level, it has decided to stop accepting bookings to and from berbera/Hodeida/Aden and Djibouti.

Cma CGM is one of the few remaining sea carriers to have kept some of its vessels passing through the Red Sea since November, when ships in the waterway began to come under sustained attacks by Houthi militants from Yemen.

The company said on Friday that vessels on its NEMO service, which sails Northern Europe and the Mediterranean to Australia and New Zealand, would temporarily stop crossing the Suez Canal and be rerouted in both directions via the Cape of Good Hope.

On the 19th, Maersk’s official website issued two consecutive customer consultations on the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden business, informing that the situation in the Red Sea is very unstable, and all available intelligence confirms that the security risk is still at an extremely high level, as the situation in the Red Sea continues to deteriorate. It will be decided to stop accepting bookings to and from berbera/Hodeida/Aden with immediate effect.

Maersk said that for customers already booked on the Berbera/Hodeidah/Aden route, we will pay attention to the needs and make every effort to ensure that customers’ goods reach their destinations as quickly and safely as possible with fewer delays.

In a second customer advisory, Maersk said that the situation in and around the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden continues to be volatile and continues to deteriorate, and its priority remains the safety of seafarers, ships and cargo, and changes are currently being made to the Blue Nile Express(BNX) express line, which will ignore the Red Sea, effective immediately. The revised service rotation was Jebel Ali – Salalah – Hazira – Nawasheva – Jebel Ali. No impact on carrying capacity is expected.

In addition, Maersk has suspended bookings to and from Asia/Middle East/Oceania/East Africa/South Africa to Djibouti with immediate effect and will not accept any new bookings to Djibouti.

Maersk said that for customers who have already booked, we will focus on the needs of customers and make every effort to ensure that customers’ goods can reach their destinations as quickly and safely as possible with fewer delays.

In order to better serve customers, Maersk recommends getting in touch with a local representative to provide more detailed information about the cargo as well as the latest operational developments.

Maersk said that this move may bring some challenges and uncertainties to customers’ logistics plans, but please be confident that this decision is based on the best interests of customers and can provide you with a more consistent and predictable service. Although the current route changes may cause some delays, Maersk is actively responding and taking all necessary measures to reduce delays and ensure that your cargo reaches its destination safely and on time.

Source: Shipping Network