COPENHAGEN: The shipping giant Maersk announced on Friday its decision to reroute all vessels around Africa instead of utilizing the Red Sea and Suez Canal for the “foreseeable future.”
This move comes in response to the recent attacks on Maersk’s merchant ships by Yemeni rebels. Citing the highly volatile situation and the persistent high security risk, the Danish company emphasized the necessity of this diversion.
In an official statement, Maersk declared, “We have therefore decided that all Maersk vessels due to transit the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden will be diverted south around the Cape of Good Hope for the foreseeable future.”
Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, Maersk had already announced the suspension of passage through the route “until further notice” following an attack on the Singapore-flagged Maersk Hangzhou. The container vessel, owned and operated by Denmark, was enroute from Singapore to Port Suez in Egypt when it reported being struck by a missile while transiting the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
