Hapag-Lloyd ships take giant detours
Shipping traffic through the Red Sea has been severely disrupted by attacks by Houthi rebels. While several countries are preparing to show their presence on the ground with a military alliance, the German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd is sending all its ships affected until the turn of the year to other routes.
Due to the uncertain situation in the Red Sea, Germany's largest container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd intends to divert around 25 ships by the end of the year. All ships that were planned for the Red Sea and the Suez Canal until December 31st will be sent to other routes, a company spokesperson explained on request. Further decisions would be made by the end of the year. Hapag-Lloyd had already generally announced that it would divert several ships to the longer route via the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of South Africa. The Hapag-Lloyd ship "Al Jasrah", which was attacked near Yemen on December 15, is on its way to Singapore, the spokesman added.
In Yemen, the Huthi rebels have declared their solidarity with the radical Islamic Hamas in the Gaza Strip and have repeatedly attacked ships off the coast under their control. Other major shipping companies such as MSC and Maersk have also drawn consequences from attacks on ships in the area. The Suez Canal is an important shortcut for the sea route between Asia and Europe in particular. The spokesman added that Hapag-Lloyd did not yet have any detailed information on the international alliance proclaimed by the USA to protect merchant shipping in the Red Sea.
Is the German navy taking part in an international operation?
The Federal Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defense confirmed that the examination of a possible participation of the German Armed Forces in the alliance forged by the USA has not yet been completed. Operation Prosperity Guardian is intended to protect merchant ships from attacks by the Houthi rebels from Yemen, who are supported by Israel's arch-enemy Iran.
The German government recently also called on the leadership in Tehran to stop the attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea. "This has a serious impact on global trade. It has a serious impact on the safety of these ships and that is unacceptable," said government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit. "There is freedom of the sea and also on the high seas. And if this is threatened, the international community is called upon to reduce such threats," he said.
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Source: www.ntv.de
