Houthi armed forces detonate unmanned boats in the Red Sea! Maersk: All detours! International shipping prices may continue to soar
Posted on Jan 08.2024
Houthi armed forces detonate unmanned boats in the Red Sea! Maersk: All detours! International shipping prices may continue to soar
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On January 5th local time, Maersk, the world's second-largest shipping company, announced that it has decided for the foreseeable future that all Maersk ships passing through the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden will sail south around the Cape of Good Hope. This means that all 37 pending vessels announced by Maersk on January 4th local time will also turn towards Cape of Good Hope.
According to Caixin News Agency, Maersk's total number of ships going around this time will exceed 170. And this decision is less than a week away from Maersk's plan to resume the Red Sea route.
In mid December 2023, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and nearly 20 other countries launched the "Prosperity Guard" operation to protect ships from attacks by the Houser armed forces. Subsequently, Maersk stated that it is preparing to resume the east-west (Asia Europe) route through the Red Sea and is developing plans for the first batch of ships to pass as soon as feasible.
Earlier, for safety reasons, Maersk first announced a suspension of navigation in the Red Sea, and then planned to have all ships suspended and passing through the Red Sea region detour through Africa via the Cape of Good Hope.
Maersk announces that Red Sea vessels are once again circling Cape of Good Hope
International shipping prices may rise again
In recent months, Yemeni militants have attacked commercial ships passing through the southern Red Sea, forcing many oil tankers and container ships to avoid this route. This has disrupted global trade, stimulated soaring freight rates, and raised concerns about a new round of global inflation.
According to Caixin News Agency, in a statement on January 5th, Maersk also stated that the previously announced Transit Interruption Surcharge (TDS), Peak Season Surcharge (PSS), and Emergency Surcharge (ECS) for all cargo on disrupted ships in the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden region remain valid.
At the same time, Maersk announced that it will launch a new Peak Season Surcharge (PSS). The effective date of peak season surcharges from the Far East (except Vietnam and Taiwan, China) to West Africa is January 8, 2024, the effective date of Vietnam to West Africa is January 18, 2024, and the effective date of Taiwan, China to West Africa is February 2, 2024. The price is $100-600 (different prices for different boxes).
At the same time, German shipping company Herbert also stated that for safety reasons, it will continue to choose to sail around the Cape of Good Hope.
Nils Haupt, the head of corporate public relations at Herbert, said on Friday, "What we can say now is that we believe the passage through the Red Sea and Suez Canal is not safe. We were attacked in December last year, and you can't imagine how difficult it was. There have been several more attacks in the past few days, and as long as the passage is not safe, we will not pass through."
According to news reports, a freight forwarder stated on January 5th that "all the cabins in early January were already full," and only a few shipping companies have updated their quotes for late January. According to the updated quotation, freight rates increased again in late January compared to early January, with small containers increasing by about $600 and high containers increasing by about $1000, overall within the range of $500 to $1000.
Specifically, the freight forwarder mentioned above pointed out that in late January, the freight rates for European routes were $3150/TEU (20 foot long containers) and $6050/FEU (40 foot long containers), an increase of about twice compared to the prices at the end of December last year. The freight rates for the Mediterranean route are $4400/TEU and $6250/FEU, which are approximately 1.2 to 1.3 times higher than the prices at the end of December last year.
Some freight forwarders also pointed out, "Most shipowners have not updated their quotations yet, but the information they have received is that the headquarters' desire to increase prices will be relatively high."
According to the market dynamics from early January to mid January released by Dexun Group on January 3, it is expected that freight rates will remain high until mid February, despite the ongoing tense situation in the Red Sea. It is not ruled out that further increases may occur. Among them, for the routes from China to Europe and the Mediterranean, in the first half of January, shipping companies generally increased the freight rates for European base ports to $4500-5000 per container, and for the Mediterranean western route to $5000-5500 per container.
According to Caixin News Agency, data from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange shows that this week's SCFI was at 1896.65 points, a month on month increase of 7.8%. The Shanghai Shipping Exchange stated that geopolitical risks remain the main challenge facing the current export container transportation market. The tense situation in the Red Sea region has not been alleviated, and the freight rates on the Asia Europe route market continue to rise, with the composite index rising. The tense situation in the European route and the Red Sea region continues to ferment, and the Asia Europe route will continue to take detours. In the short term, the tense situation of transportation capacity will continue, and market freight rates will continue to rise this week.
Overall, with the adjustment of global shipping routes, our company is also actively addressing potential risks. Our company will closely monitor the development of the situation and actively seek solutions.
Tags: global shipping, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk, Red Sea, routes, Suez canal, Houthi
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