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Shippers mask positions, weigh options amid Red Sea attacks

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(Last Updated On: December 19, 2023)

A number of container ships are anchored in the Red Sea and others have turned off tracking systems as traders adjust routes and prices in response to maritime attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis on the world’s main East-West trade route.

Attacks in recent days on ships in the major Red Sea shipping route have raised the specter of another bout of disruption to international commerce following the upheaval of the COVID pandemic, and prompted a U.S.-led international force to patrol waters near Yemen, Reuters reported.

The Red Sea is linked to the Mediterranean by the Suez Canal, which creates the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia. About 12% of world shipping traffic transits the canal.

Major shippers including Hapag Lloyd (HLAG.DE), MSC and Maersk (MAERSKb.CO), oil major BP (BP.L) and oil tanker group Frontline (FRO.OL) have said they will be avoiding the Red Sea route and re-routing via southern Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.

But many ships are still plying the waterway. Several ships underway have armed guards on board, LSEG data showed.

At least 11 container ships which had passed through Suez and were approaching Yemen carrying consumer goods and grains bound for countries including Singapore, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, are now anchored in the Red Sea between Sudan and Saudi Arabia, LSEG shiptracking data showed.

Four MSC container ships in the Red Sea have had their transponders turned off since Dec. 17, the data showed, likely to avoid detection.

Some vessels are attempting to mask their positions by pinging on other locations, as a safety precaution when entering the Yemen coastline, said Ioannis Papadimitriou, senior freight analyst at Vortexa.

Denmark’s Maersk on Friday paused all container shipments through the Red Sea following a “near-miss incident” involving its vessel Maersk Gibraltar a day earlier. A number of the ships at anchor in the Red Sea are Maersk vessels, LSEG data showed.

On Tuesday it said vessels previously paused and due to sail through the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden would be rerouted around Africa.

The Iran-backed Houthis, who say they are supporting Palestinians under siege by Israel in the Gaza Strip, have waded into the Israel-Hamas conflict by attacking vessels in vital shipping lanes and even firing drones and missiles at Israel, more than 1,000 miles from the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

Houthis attacked two commercial shipping vessels in the southern Red Sea on Monday.

Industry sources say the impact on global trade will depend on how long the crisis persists, but insurance premiums and longer routes would be immediate burdens.

Vortexa’s Papadimitriou on Tuesday said the price of a Suezmax to carry crude from the Middle East to Europe has risen 25% in a week.

The disruption to energy flows in the Red Sea is unlikely to have large effects on crude and liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices, Goldman Sachs said on Monday, as vessels can be redirected.

“We do estimate that a hypothetical prolonged redirection of all 7 million barrels per day of gross (Northbound and Southbound) oil flows would raise spot crude prices relative to long-dated prices by $3-4/per barrel

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Israel will enter Rafah with or without Gaza hostage deal, Netanyahu says

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(Last Updated On: May 1, 2024)

Israel will carry out an operation against Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Rafah regardless of whether or not a ceasefire and hostage release deal is reached, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

“The idea that we will stop the war before achieving all its objectives is out of the question,” Netanyahu said, according to a statement from his office.

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Reported Indian role in assassination plots a ‘serious matter’, White House says

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(Last Updated On: April 30, 2024)

The White House said on Monday it viewed the reported role of the Indian intelligence service in two assassination plots in Canada and the United States as a serious matter.

The Washington Post reported that an officer in India’s intelligence service was directly involved in a foiled plan to assassinate a U.S. citizen who is one of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s most vocal critics in the United States.

It said the officer was also involved in the separate shooting death of a Sikh activist last June in Canada.

India’s foreign ministry said the Washington Post report made “unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter” while New Delhi is investigating the issue.

“Speculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful,” foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.

“This is a serious matter, and we’re taking that very, very seriously,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

“We’re going to continue to raise our concerns.”

In November, U.S. authorities said an Indian government official had directed the plot in the attempted murder of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist and dual citizen of the United States and Canada, Reuters reported.

India has expressed concern about the linkage and dissociated itself from the plot, saying it would formally investigate the concerns of the United States, and take ‘necessary follow-up action’ on the findings of a panel set up on Nov. 18.

Pannun is the general counsel of Sikhs for Justice, a group that India labeled an “unlawful association” in 2019, citing its involvement in extremist activities. Subsequently, in 2020, India listed Pannun as an “individual terrorist”.

The issue is a delicate one for both India and the Biden administration in the United States as they try to build closer ties in the face of shared concerns about China’s growing power.

News of the U.S. plot came two months after Canada said it was looking at credible allegations potentially linking Indian agents to the June murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another Sikh separatist, in a Vancouver suburb.

India strongly rejected Ottawa’s accusations.

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Dubai ruler approves new $35 billion airport terminal

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(Last Updated On: April 29, 2024)

Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum approved a new passenger terminal in Al Maktoum International airport worth 128 billion AED ($34.85 billion), he said on Sunday in a post on X.

The Al Maktoum International Airport will be the largest in the world with a capacity of up to 260 million passengers, and five times the size of Dubai International Airport, he added, saying that all operations at Dubai airport would be transferred to Al Maktoum in the coming years, Reuters reported.

The Al Maktoum airport will also include 400 terminal gates and five runways, he said.

The airport will be the new home of flagship carrier Emirates and its sister low-cost airline Flydubai along with all airline partners connecting the world to and from Dubai, Dubai state-owned airline Emirates chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum said.

The move “further solidifies Dubai’s position as a leading aviation hub on the world stage”, the CEO of Dubai Airports, Paul Griffiths, was quoted as saying by the Dubai Media Office.

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