by The Maritime Executive
The security situation in the Red Sea is continuing to decline, prompting MSC and CMA CGM to announce that they have suspended all sailings in the region. The announcement follows similar alerts from Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd on Friday. The actions by the world’s largest container shipping companies come as the naval forces of the U.S. and UK, as well as other allies including Egypt, have all reportedly taken down drones launched from the Houthi-controlled regions of Yemen.
Saying that “The situation is further deteriorating and concern of safety is increasing,” CMA issued a statement today, December 16 reporting it is implementing preventive measures for navigation in the Red Sea.
“We have decided to instruct all CMA CGM containerships in the area that are scheduled to pass through the Red Sea to reach safe areas and pause their journey in safe waters with immediate effect until further notice,” CMA CGM reports. The French carrier has not said what it will do with the cargo, but it follows a similar decision by Maersk which paused Red Sea sailings a day after one of its ships was attacked. Hapag-Lloyd also said yesterday it was pausing all container ship traffic through the Red Sea until Monday, reporting “Then we will decide for the period thereafter.”
On Friday, one of Hapag-Lloyd’s large containerships was ordered to sail toward Yemen. When it ignored the command, it was struck by a missile that caused some damage and a small fire. The crew was able to extinguish the fire and the vessel continued its trip leaving the danger zone.
MSC in its statement is now also confirming that its vessel the…
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