Shipping update

Please bear in mind that Russian ships can travel undisturbed. For most of the rest of the world, contracts are being canceled, container prices are rising, and even oil is nudging upwards. The supply chain is showing an increase everywhere you look, right through the chain. The thing is, are we at the edge of a paradigm shift? Putin says - no problem amigos, use the northern lane (I am convinced with an evil glint in his eyes! Houthi’s for BRICS - membership is better than a Nobel prize.)    

Shipping liners A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, CMA CGM, Yang Ming and HMM Co have suspended sailing (https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/business/2023/12/19/red-sea-shipping-chaos-by-the-numbers/71971273007/) through the Red Sea. Vessels due to sail through the southern (https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/maersk-reroutes-vessels-around-africa-red-sea-2023-12-19/) Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden would be rerouted (bypassing the Suez Canal) around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope.

🔹Container shipping co. 🚢 Hapag Lloyd has paused (https://shipandbunker.com/news/emea/256134-hapag-lloyd-to-continue-avoiding-red-sea-until-at-least-january) all of its’ ships from entering the Red Sea. BP has suspended (https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/bp-suspends-all-oil-shipments-through-the-red-sea-as-attacks-escalate/ar-AA1lGHgI) gas and oil shipments through (https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67748605?at_medium=RSS) the Red Sea amid a surge in attacks on ships in the region from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen 🇾🇪. The Houthis have asserted that their assault on international (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/shipping-giants-are-going-dark-in-the-red-sea-and-turning-off-their-tracking-signals-to-avoid-being-detected/ar-AA1lK7dY) shipping is a direct response to Israeli 🇮🇱 strikes inside the Gaza Strip 🇵🇸.

🔹Another oil & gas major, Norway’s Equinor has rerouted (https://www.upstreamonline.com/energy-security/equinor-joins-players-re-routing-vessels-from-red-sea/2-1-1573834)ships. About 12% of world shipping traffic transits (https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/how-would-red-sea-attacks-affect-gas-shipping-2023-12-19/) the Suez Canal (the quickest sea route between Asia and Europe) and 4-8% of global LNG cargoes have passed through it in 2023. As much as 8.2 million barrels per day 🛢 of crude oil and oil products traversed the Red Sea over January-November. Qatar, the United States and Russia are the most active shippers of LNG via Suez.

🔹Freight line MSC won’t transit the Suez Canal in either direction. Evergreen Marine Co will temporarily (https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202312/1303862.shtml) suspend Israel import and export services. Taiwanese container shipping (https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/bp-halts-all-tanker-sailings-through-red-sea-uk-navy-receives-report-possible) line Evergreen and Belgian tanker owner Euronav have halted sails through the Red Sea strait.

🔹The US 🇺🇸 has started (https://www.armytimes.com/naval/2023/12/19/us-unveils-international-force-to-defend-red-sea-heres-what-we-know/) “Operation Prosperity Guardian” by bringing together the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain to deploy navy ships to the region. This effort will fall under the purview of the Combined Maritime Forces — a multinational maritime partnership based in Bahrain.

Video Source: What’s Going on With Shipping. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQuec8PyZcE)

A note on the international force: It is in the US media that instead of less than 10 countries joining, up to 20 countries have joined but the others prefer to remain incognito. (har har har – just thousands will believe them eh .. but really, I don’t)