Maersk: Negative impact of Red Sea attacks increases as ship traffic diverted away from Suez Canal

Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Thursday that the negative impact on shipping and global supply chains from attacks in the Red Sea continues to grow as traffic is diverted away from the Suez Canal.

Maersk added that recent data showed that the number of ships transiting the canal has fallen by 66 percent since shipping companies began diverting their ships around Africa. Maersk did not provide the data.

She stressed that these disruptions have led to service reconfiguration and volume shifts, resulting in infrastructure stress, port congestion, delays, and shortages of capacity and equipment.

Maersk said in July that disruptions to container shipping through the Red Sea had spread beyond the Far East-Europe trade routes to its entire global network, warning of a “cascading effect” causing congestion.

“The timeline for easing these disruptions and returning to (normal) remains uncertain,” she said on Thursday, adding that demand for container shipping remained strong.

Attacks in the Red Sea by Iran-allied Houthi militants have disrupted a vital trade route between East and West, rerouting shipments for extended periods, driving up shipping rates and causing congestion at Asian and European ports.

Source: Agencies