Red Sea Shipping Traffic Craters as Iran-Backed Houthi Attacks Continue

The Financial Times (FT) reported on Wednesday that container ship traffic through the Red Sea and Suez Canal was down an astonishing 90 percent year-on-year for the first week of January — meaning attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist of Yemen have almost completely shut down one of the world’s most vital shipping lanes.

Data compiled by London-based shipping analysts at Clarksons showed the number of container ships avoiding the Red Sea route by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope has more than doubled over the past three weeks. This alternate route takes ten to 14 days longer than sailing through the Suez Canal and imposes tremendous additional costs on shipping.

WATCH — Pentagon: “No Indications” Houthis Will Stop Attacking:

Freight lines have also discovered the ports along the African coastal route are not well-equipped to handle a sudden surge of titanic cargo ships. FT noted some companies are diverting traffic through other routes in Asia and the U.S. East Coast.

The effect of all these diversions and increased costs on shipping rates has been second only to the cataclysmic coronavirus pandemic. The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index hit a peak on January 5 that has only been matched by pandemic shipping prices.

“The rise was driven by a doubling, from $1,667 on December 23 to $3,577 on January 5, in the cost of moving a container from Shanghai to Rotterdam. The cost of moving a box from Shanghai to Genoa also doubled, from $1,956 to $4,178,” FT noted.

Shipping industry analysts said the December 30 attack on the container ship Maersk Hangzhou by four boatloads of Houthi hijackers was the watershed moment for Red Sea shipping – the event that shattered what little confidence shipping companies felt for the Biden administration’s “Operation Prosperity Guardian.”

U.S. helicopters drove off the Maersk Hangzhou attackers after the ship sent a distress call, with many of them evidently killed during an exchange of fire with the American choppers. However, several large freight companies were spooked enough by the attack to suspend Red Sea shipping – including Maersk, the biggest company to have demonstrated confidence in Operation Prosperity Guardian.

The Houthis continued attacking Red Sea shipping after a stern warning from the U.S. and its allies on January 3, delivered after the U.N. Security Council met to discuss the Red Sea crisis but took no immediate action.

On Tuesday, the Houthis launched what American and British officials described as their largest attack on Red Sea shipping to date. U.S. and British naval forces shot down a total of 21 Houthi drones and missiles.

The Houthis said they targeted an American ship that was “providing support” to Israel and also wished to exact revenge for the U.S. killing ten of the Houthi fighters who attempted to hijack the Maersk Hangzhou.

British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said the massive Houthi attack on Tuesday might be the provocation that brings a major military response against the Yemeni insurgents at last.

“This is an unsustainable situation. This cannot continue, and cannot be allowed to continue,” Shapps said.

Shapps said the Houthis conducted a “generalized attack on shipping,” and also appeared to target a British warship, the HMS Diamond. 

“These attacks are unlawful reckless and escalatory,” said White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

Kirby said the U.S. has introduced a resolution at the U.N. Security Council that “unequivocally demands that the Houthis cease these attacks.” The resolution is scheduled for a vote on Wednesday.