According to insiders, British oil giant Shell has indefinitely suspended all oil transportation through the Red Sea, after concerns about further escalation of the situation were raised by the United States and the United Kingdom's crackdown on the Yemeni Hussein militants.
A few days after the United States led a round of strikes against the Hussein armed forces, there have been new attacks on American ships in the Middle East. On Monday, the Houser militants once again vowed to continue attacking American and international targets in the region as a response to Israel's actions in Gaza.
Shipping officials stated that last month, a tanker rented by Shell was targeted by a drone in the Red Sea and harassed by armed ships from Husai. According to insiders, the company took measures last week to halt all transportation activities due to concerns that a successful attack could trigger a large-scale oil spill in the area and pose a risk to the safety of its crew.
Shell has become the latest energy company to avoid the Red Sea, and BP announced last month that it will suspend all transportation through key Red Sea routes.
Meanwhile, an energy official in Qatar stated that the Gulf country has stopped using the Red Sea route to export liquefied natural gas due to concerns about getting involved in the conflict. Qatar used to serve as a mediator for the Houthi armed forces.
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on Tuesday, the three major shipping companies in Japan, including Nippon Mail, merchant ship Mitsui and Kawasaki Steamboat, have decided to stop all ships from crossing the Red Sea.
Sovcommflot, the largest shipping company in Russia, is also considering choosing other routes to cope with the escalating conflict.
Impact on the global economy
Although the Husai militants claim that their main targets are still ships heading towards Israel or its allies, the risk of attacks on ships from other countries is also increasing. According to shipping trackers, in recent days, Husai militants have attacked a ship loaded with oil from the Ustyluga port in Russia. This ship was previously owned by a British company, but was purchased by an offshore entity in Seychelles last year.
Ami Daniel, CEO of Windward, a maritime artificial intelligence supplier, said, "The shipping industry involves numerous stakeholders and it is difficult to assign a single nationality to ships."
A senior executive from DP World, a port and freight operator, said that the disruption of Red Sea shipping caused by the Houser armed attack will push up consumer goods prices& Amp; Quota; The cost of goods entering Europe from Asia will significantly increase, and European consumers will be the first to feel this pain... Its impact on developed economies will be greater than that on developing economies& Amp; Quota;
The heads of two large banks stated at the Davos forum that they are concerned that this crisis may trigger inflationary pressures, ultimately delaying or reversing interest rate cuts, and jeopardizing hopes of a soft landing for the US economy.
According to Lloyds List Intelligence, from mid December last year to January 7th this year, due to the diversion of ships to Cape of Good Hope, the container throughput of the Suez Canal decreased by over 60% year-on-year, from 3.3 million boxes to 1.3 million boxes.