“Due to the deteriorating security situation in the Middle East region following the escalating military conflict, we have decided…to pause future Trans-Suez sailings through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait for the time being,” Danish container shipping group Maersk said in a statement on Sunday.
The company last month announced a gradual return of some services to the Suez route, seen as a key step towards ending two years of global trade disruption caused by attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. “We will continue to monitor the situation closely and take all needed actions,” the company said.
“Once the situation stabilises and the security conditions again permit, we will continue to prioritise the Trans-Suez route,” Maersk added, commenting on its Middle East-India to Mediterranean and Middle East-India to East Coast US services. The company later on Sunday said its services in the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar may also be disrupted.
German shipping group Hapag-Lloyd said in a separate statement it was rerouting its IMX container shipping service that connects India and the Middle East with the Mediterranean around southern Africa.
It added it would prioritise the route again once the security situation permitted transit.
–Reuters–
