The Houthi group’s attacks in the Red Sea and the strikes carried out by the United States and Britain on the group’s targets disrupted ship transportation and pushed oil and gold prices to rise, while affecting Suez Canal revenues.
Shipping companies change their course
Shipping data from the London Stock Exchange Group and the Kpler global trade information platform showed that at least 4 oil tankers diverted from the Red Sea since the strikes carried out by the United States and Britain on Houthi targets in Yemen, amid growing fears of expanding tensions.
The Houthis have been targeting commercial ships since late last year with attacks that the group says are aimed at supporting the Palestinians in light of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip. The attacks focused on the Bab al-Mandab Strait area.
In another sign of escalation, on Thursday, Iran seized a tanker carrying Iraqi crude that was heading to Turkey. This incident occurred near the Strait of Hormuz, another vital shipping lane for global trade.
The tankers Toya, Diana-i, Stolt Zulu and Navigate Pride LHJ were seen turning around mid-voyage to avoid the Red Sea on Friday, according to ship tracking data.
The data showed that one of the tankers, the Toya, a huge crude tanker capable of carrying up to two million barrels of oil, was empty. The other three ships are fuel tankers.
In the past few weeks, a number of shipping companies have already chosen to avoid the Red Sea region due to increased risks.
The Danish shipping group Torm said on Friday that it had decided to temporarily stop all sailing operations through the southern Red Sea.
For its part, Hafnia Shipping Company said on Friday that it had decided to immediately stop all ships heading towards or near the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Hafnia’s statement said that the decision was taken after advice from the joint naval forces to stay away from the area after US-British air strikes were launched against the Houthi group in Yemen.
It was followed by the Stena Bulk shipping company, which told Reuters that it had stopped transit in the Red Sea early Friday.
A cautious welcome
Two major shipping companies, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, welcomed the measures aimed at securing the region, but the two companies did not clarify whether the US-British strikes would be sufficient to restore navigational operations leading to the Suez Canal, which is the fastest route between Asia and Europe and through which about 12% of container carriers in the world pass.
The German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd reported that the attacks launched by the Houthis on ships in the Red Sea caused it to incur additional monthly costs estimated at tens of millions of dollars.
A spokesman for the group said that the attacks “affect the entire industry and us greatly.” The spokesman did not evaluate the international military strikes led by the United States and Britain against Houthi sites, but said: “We welcome measures that make passage through the Red Sea safe again.”
Reuters said that the Oil Tanker Association (Intertanko) distributed a memorandum to its members in which it said that the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) are warning all ships “to stay away from Bab al-Mandab a great distance.”
“The threat period for shipping operations is expected to continue for several days,” Intertanko added. About 10% of global trade passes through the Red Sea.
Oil markets in the eye of the storm
Oil prices jumped 4% as oil tankers diverted from the Red Sea after air and sea strikes launched by the United States and Britain on Houthi targets in Yemen in response to attacks launched by the group since late last year.
Oil prices jumped more than 4%, and the trading price of Brent exceeded $80 due to high geopolitical risks, before falling to about $78.3.
US West Texas Intermediate crude also rose 4% above $75, before falling to settle near $73 in evening trading.
ING analysts said in a note that more than 20 million barrels per day of oil moves through the Strait of Hormuz, equivalent to about 20% of global consumption.
Gold benefits
Gold prices rose on Friday due to the air strikes on Yemen, which led to an increase in the attractiveness of the precious yellow metal as a safe haven.
By 20:33 GMT Friday, gold in instant transactions rose 0.9% to $2046.62 per ounce.
US gold futures also rose about 2% to $2,050.90.
Kelvin Wong, chief market analyst for the Asia-Pacific region at Oanda, said that attention will be focused on the growing geopolitical tension, which he sees as it escalates, “supporting gold prices above the 50-day moving average of $2,015.”
The Suez Canal is suffering
The head of the Suez Canal Authority, Osama Rabie, said that the canal’s dollar revenue has decreased by 40% since the beginning of the year compared to 2023, after Houthi attacks in Yemen on ships heading to Israel led to their sailing route being diverted away from this corridor.
Rabie mentioned to a television program that ship transit traffic declined by 30% in the period from the first of January to the 11th of the same month on an annual basis.
He explained that the number of ships crossing the Suez Canal decreased to 544 ships so far this year, compared to 777 ships in the same period last year.