Japanese carriers, Shell suspend Red Sea sailings
NYK Line, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and Mitsui OSK Lines shun the Red Sea
Japan’s three major shipping firms and British oil giant Shell have paused transit through the Red Sea amid threats of missile attack from Houthi rebels in Yemen.
“We have suspended navigation through the Red Sea by all ships we operate,” a spokesperson for Nippon Yusen, also known as NYK Line, told Agence France-Presse, adding the decision was to “ensure the safety of crews.”
“Vessels which we operate and that were about to enter the Red Sea soon are asked to stay away from entering the Gulf of Aden” south of the Red Sea, a spokesperson for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines told AFP.
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha’s spokesperson Goro Kitamura said the company also “suspended navigation into the Red Sea since Friday, but we don’t have vessels near the Red Sea right now.”
Shell decided to suspend transit last week, considering worries that a successful attack could cause a major spill and threaten the safety of ship crew, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s prime minister said that liquefied natural gas shipments would be affected by tensions in the area, warning that strikes on Yemen risk worsening the crisis.
About 12 percent of global trade normally passes through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea’s entrance between southwest Yemen and Djibouti. But the rebel attacks have caused much shipping to be diverted thousands of kilometers around Africa.
Since Friday, United States and British forces have been bombing scores of targets inside Houthi-controlled Yemen in response to the attacks by the rebels, who say they are targeting Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
The waterway between Asian and European markets normally carries about 12 percent of global maritime trade. Diverting around the southern tip of Africa takes longer and is more expensive.