Research Study: Red Sea Attacks Cause 85 Percent Drop in Ship Traffic

A research study showed that traffic at ports in the Red Sea has decreased by 85% since the beginning of Houthi attacks on commercial ships, while traffic in the Suez Canal has decreased by about 66% during the same period.

Data from the US company Lloyd's List showed that the Iranian-backed Houthi rebel group carried out more than 85 attempted attacks on oil tankers, bulk carriers and container ships since November last year, mostly through missile strikes.

As a result, shipping companies largely preferred to avoid the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, including taking a longer route around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.

This disruption had a significant impact on trade flows in the Middle East, including a drop in Suez Canal transit revenues in Egypt by up to 50% in the first months of the conflict.

Research by Sea Intelligence, a Denmark-based analytics and consulting firm, indicates that the number of visits to deep-sea ports in the Red Sea has fallen from an average of more than 200 visits per month last year to less than 40 in the first six months of this year.

That number rose to 60 in July, although CEO Alan Murphy says it “remains to be seen whether this will continue, or whether this is a temporary spike.”

Jeddah Islamic Port and King Abdullah Port, both in Saudi Arabia, have been the hardest hit. Sea Intelligence says Jeddah Port is now seeing an average of 37 visits per month, compared with 135 before the crisis.

He added that port visits in the Gulf of Aden and the eastern Mediterranean remain about a third lower than they were before the crisis.

Shipping giant Maersk, which says it will only return to sailing through the Red Sea when the safety of ships can be guaranteed, said in an advisory issued on September 5 that the impact of the conflict on shipping and supply chains “continues to increase.”

“With ships being diverted around the Cape of Good Hope, we are seeing significant increases in transit times and operating costs,” Maersk says.

“These disruptions have led to service reconfigurations and volume shifts, straining infrastructure and resulting in port congestion, delays, and shortages of capacity and equipment,” she added.

The number of ships transiting the Suez Canal is believed to have fallen by two-thirds since the Houthi attacks began.

“The timeline for easing these disruptions and returning to ‘normal’ remains uncertain,” Maersk adds. “This crisis underscores the urgent need for companies to build supply chain resilience and for carriers to re-evaluate their risk mitigation strategies.”

The attacks have drawn international condemnation and military responses from Western governments, with Saudi Arabia this week calling for increased efforts to cut arms supplies to the group.

Source: British GTR review website