Ikea fears delivery delays due to Huthi attacks
Due to the attacks by the Houthi rebels, many shipping companies currently prefer to send their freighters around the Horn of Africa rather than through the Suez Canal. A detour lasting days, which could soon have an impact on trade. The Swedish furniture company Ikea is already warning of limited availability.
Swedish furniture giant Ikea has warned of possible delivery delays and even empty shelves due to the detour around the Red Sea following attacks on container ships. "The situation in the Suez Canal will lead to delays and may limit the availability of some Ikea products," the company announced. Due to the wave of attacks on container ships by the Iranian-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen, many freighters are currently avoiding sailing through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea.
The Red Sea and the Suez Canal are central trade routes for global trade, with around 20,000 ships passing through the Suez Canal every year. If container ships instead sail around the southern tip of Africa on their way between Asia and Europe, the journey can take a week longer, and the detour also incurs additional fuel costs amounting to hundreds of thousands of euros.
Military coalition grows
More than 20 countries have now joined an international military coalition to secure maritime trade in the region. Bahrain, France, Great Britain, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, the Seychelles and Spain have already joined the coalition under the leadership of the USA, with Greece also recently declaring its willingness to do so. The German government is currently considering involving the German Armed Forces.
Ikea stated that it was in close contact with the transport companies and that the safety of its employees was its top priority. "In the meantime, we are exploring other delivery options to ensure the availability of our products and we will continue to monitor the situation closely," the company explained.
Since the start of the war between Israel and the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas, the Houthi militia in Yemen has repeatedly fired drones and missiles at Israel and most recently attacked ships in the Red Sea on several occasions. Yemen is located on the Bab-al-Mandeb strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Due to the repeated attacks, several shipping companies have announced in the past few days that they will stop sailing through the strait.
The Houthi rebels are threatening to attack any ship on its way to Israel unless more food and medicine is allowed to be transported to the Gaza Strip. A high-ranking Huthi representative announced that the rebels would continue their attacks regardless of the international military coalition to secure maritime trade.
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Source: www.ntv.de
