Freight traffic through the Suez Canal has fallen by two-thirds in the past year to April due to the diversion of vehicles following attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels Ansar Allah. of ships in the Red Sea, reported newspaper The Times with reference to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) of the United Kingdom.
Cargo transport on another important shipping artery - the Bab el Mandeb Strait - has decreased by 59%. The rerouting of merchant ships by a number of shipping companies, including Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, along the long 20-plus-day route around the Cape of Good Hope has led to increased fuel consumption, increased insurance costs due to the increased risk of attack and increased container shipping rates . However, in the last year the number of ships using this route has increased by 57%.
The average shipping price per container rose to $2,719 in April from $1,390 in early October, although that was down from a recent peak of nearly $4,000 in January, according to supply chain consultancy Drewry. As the head of the Suez Canal, Osama Rabia, has said, recent events in the Red Sea have shown that there is no ideal alternative to the Suez Canal; it costs companies much more to transport goods around the African continent.
Following the escalation of the conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Ansar Allah movement has warned that it will carry out attacks on Israeli territory and will not allow ships associated with it to pass through the waters of the Red Sea and the Bab el Mandeb Strait. until the operation in the Palestinian enclave is terminated. Since mid-November last year, the Houthis have attacked dozens of civilian ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.