The sinking of the UK-owned bulk carrier Rubymar after a Houthi missile attack off the coast of Yemen will do nothing to ease the concerns of ocean freight carriers, so it is likely the diversions around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa will be in place for the foreseeable future, an expert at freight platform Xeneta said.
Peter Sand, chief analyst of freight platform Xeneta, told The National, a UAE published daily added that the sinking of Rubymar threatens to further delay the global shipping industry’s recovery and heighten the worsening security risks at Bab Al Mandeb.
Sand concluded that “This incident demonstrates the ongoing danger for vessels transiting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and why the majority of ocean freight container ships are continuing to avoid the region.”
However, the long and expensive detour around the Cape of Good Hope has raised freight shipping prices amid transport delays that could lead to higher consumer prices for some goods.
Major shippers and operators have suspended operations in the Red Sea – a vital maritime route – following attacks on commercial shipping lines by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
About 12 per cent of seaborne oil trade and 8 per cent of liquefied natural gas passes through Bab Al Mandeb.
Global trade ministers and delegates converging in Abu Dhabi last week at the13th World Trade Organisation Ministerial Conference raised concerns about the impact on international commerce from the shipping attacks in the Red Sea, which connects Europe with Asia.