By Andrea Figueras
Hapag-Lloyd, a prominent German shipping company, recently announced its decision to continue diverting its ships from the Red Sea, bucking the trend of some of its peers who plan to gradually increase transits through the area.
The company’s crisis committee took this decision during a meeting on Friday, and Hapag-Lloyd will conduct the next assessment of the situation on January 2.
Hapag-Lloyd’s stance highlights the contrasting approaches shipping companies are taking to navigate the risks in the Red Sea, even with the deployment of naval ships by the United States and its allies to deter further strikes by Houthi rebels from Yemen.
While A.P. Moller-Maersk seeks to resume shipments through the Red Sea and CMA CGM plans to gradually increase vessel transits via Egypt’s Suez Canal, Mediterranean Shipping Co. has opted to reroute vessels originally bound for Suez transit via the Cape of Good Hope.
It is worth noting that the attacks on vessels by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels earlier this month led shipping companies, oil producers, and cargo owners to suspend transit through the Red Sea.
