Rodolphe Saadeh, Chairman and CEO of the French shipping group CMA-CGM, said that the unrest resulting from attacks on ships in the Red Sea may last “several months.”
The British newspaper “Financial Times” quoted Saadeh as saying that his company is still sending some ships through the Suez Canal route when it is possible for a French warship to accompany them, but the situation has made the company’s agenda “in a state of complete chaos.”
For its part, the Danish company “Maersk” said that it had temporarily suspended reservations to Djibouti from Asia, the Middle East, Oceania, and East and South Africa as part of the shipping route service it provides called Blue Nile Express.
Maersk justified this measure – in a statement issued today – by saying that the situation in and around the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden remains volatile, and all available intelligence information confirms that the security risks are still at a very high level.
Maersk stated that its Blue Nile Express service would be suspended immediately in the ports of Djibouti, Jeddah, and King Abdullah Port (north of Jeddah), all of which are on the Red Sea.
The Blue Nile Express service usually connects ports in the UAE, Oman, India, Djibouti and Saudi Arabia. Maersk said it did not expect any impact on capacity.
China calls for an end to the harassment of ships
Meanwhile, China today called for an end to the harassment of civilian ships in the Red Sea following attacks launched by the Yemeni Houthi group on Israeli ships or transporting goods to Israel in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to continuous aggression from Israel for 105 days.
Many shipping companies are avoiding passing through the vital trade artery, and have diverted their ships through the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.
“We call for an end to the harassment of civilian ships in order to maintain the smooth transit of international production, supply chains and the global trade system,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
“The top priority is to stop the war in Gaza as soon as possible to prevent the conflict from expanding further, or even getting out of control,” Mao said.
In an interview published on Friday, the official in the Yemeni Houthi group, Muhammad Al-Bukhaiti, pledged the safe passage of Russian and Chinese ships in the Red Sea. He stressed that the passage is safe as long as the ships are not linked to Israel.
The spokeswoman’s statements came after a similar call from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce to all parties in the region to “restore and ensure the safety of the waterways in the Red Sea.”
“It is hoped that the parties concerned will proceed from the comprehensive interests of regional security and stability, as well as the common interests of the international community,” ministry spokesman He Yadong was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.
The Houthis continued attacks on American ships yesterday, nearly a week after the United States and Britain launched strikes against the movement’s sites in Yemen.