Houthi militia have reportedly ceased attacks on Israel and shipping in the Red Sea, and the impact could be seismic for global ocean container shipping, warns Chief Analyst Peter Sand at Xeneta.
Houthi militia have reportedly ceased attacks on Israel and shipping in the Red Sea, and the impact could be seismic for global ocean container shipping, warns Chief Analyst Peter Sand at Xeneta. However, an immediate largescale return to the region will require a series of further assurances.
“Details are sketchy, and you cannot base the safety of crews, ships and cargo on the word of Houthi militia. Carriers need far more assurance than that and, perhaps more importantly, so do insurance companies,” says Sand.
“Different carriers have different tolerances to risk, and we have seen some intermittently testing the water, with the CMA CGM Zheng He and CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin making voyages through the region in November, but generally the number of container ships transiting the Suez Canal has been trending downwards during 2025.
“Transits may start to increase if there is a perceived lower risk, but we are unlikely to see an imminent return to 2023 levels.”
Longer sailing distances around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa due to the threat of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea region are currently absorbing around 2 million TEU of global container shipping capacity and increasing the transport demands on the fleet.
A
Content Original Link:
" target="_blank">
