2024-01-17T09:19:31+00:00
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/ Three Japanese shipping companies announced, on Wednesday, the complete suspension of the passage of their ships in the Red Sea, due to escalating tension in this waterway.
Agence France-Presse quoted a spokesman for Nippon Yusen as saying that the company took this decision “to ensure the safety of the crews.”
Mitsui OSK Lines and Kawasaki Kisen also confirmed their decision to avoid this area entirely.
A spokesman for Mitsui OSK Lines told Agence France-Presse, “The ships we operate that were about to enter the Red Sea were asked not to enter,” confirming news reported earlier by the Nikkei newspaper.
Since November 2023, the Iranian-backed Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, have launched attacks on ships they consider to be linked to Israel, placing this within the framework of supporting the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The Houthi attacks prompted many shipping companies, including the Danish Maersk, to divert their ships via the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.
About 12% of global maritime trade usually passes through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait leading to the southern Red Sea, but the number of containers passing through this waterway has decreased by 70% since mid-November 2023, according to experts.
On November 19, 2023, the Houthis seized the cargo ship “Galaxy Leader” and took its 25 crew members hostage.
Nippon Yusen was managing this ship on behalf of a British company owned by an Israeli businessman.
In recent weeks, many of the major oil companies, Shell, BP, Qatar Energy, and shipping companies have decided to avoid the Red Sea until further notice.
The Houthi attacks on maritime navigation in the United States in December 2023 prompted the formation of an international maritime coalition that would conduct patrols in the Red Sea to protect maritime traffic from Houthi attacks.
On Friday morning, American and British forces launched dozens of raids on several military sites belonging to the Houthis in Sanaa and the governorates of Hodeidah, Taiz, Hajjah and Saada. The rebels announced that the strikes led to the death of five of their members.
At dawn on Saturday, the United States again targeted an air base in Sanaa, which has been under the control of the Houthis since 2014. The US military said that day that it had struck “a radar site in Yemen.”
In response to these strikes, the Houthis declared that American and British interests had become “legitimate targets” and continued to launch attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
Yesterday, Tuesday, Centcom said that the Houthis fired an anti-ship ballistic missile towards international shipping routes, referring to reports that a cargo ship flying the flag of Malta was hit by a missile but was still able to sail.
A source in the Greek Ministry of the Navy confirmed that the attack on the ship did not result in human casualties.