Shipping industry in the dark over US-led Red Sea navy force

LONDON: Shipping companies remain in the dark over a new international navy coalition being assembled by the United States to combat attacks in the Red Sea, with many vessels continuing to avoid the area or cancelling contracts, sources said on Wednesday.

The sources, who include shipping and maritime security officials, say few practical details are known about the initiative launched on Tuesday by Washington or whether it will directly engage in the event of further armed attacks at sea.

Iran-backed Houthi in Yemen have since Nov. 19 stepped up attacks on vessels in the Red Sea to show support for Hamas as Israel’s military offensive in Gaza continues. The group has vowed to continue operations targeting Israeli ships or vessels headed to Israeli ports.

Well-trained Houthi fighters with growing capabilities to launch night attacks have fired missiles and launched seaborne assaults on ships from fast boats. Missiles fired have been repelled by US warships.

“There are still a number of unknowns with the coalition. We don’t know exactly how many warships will be involved, how long it will take those vessels to get to the region, or their rules of engagement and the actual protection scheme that will be put in place,” said Corey Ranslem, chief executive of British maritime risk advisory and security company Dryad Global.

“Globally this is a fairly small area, however providing protection to commercial vessels in this region could be a major undertaking depending on the number of vessels along with any changes to the Houthi tactics.”

On Nov. 19, Houthi commandos landed on the Galaxy Leader by helicopter and took the vessel back to Yemen’s northern Hodeidah port. The car carrier and its crew are still being held.

The attacks have disrupted a key trade route that links Europe and North America with Asia via the Suez Canal and caused container shipping costs to rise sharply as companies seek to ship their goods via alternative, often longer, routes.

“We expect the threat to shipping to continue for the foreseeable future as long as the conflict continues in Gaza. Depending on how the US-led coalition comes together, we could also see the threat level against commercial shipping decline if their efforts are effective,” Dryad’s Ranslem said.

“A number of global shipping companies are diverting around Africa or completely pausing operations within this region. If the coalition efforts are not effective we expect more shipping companies to divert around the Cape.”

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, on a visit this week to Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s headquarters in the Middle East, said Bahrain, Britain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain were among nations involved in the Red Sea security operation.

The group will conduct joint patrols in the southern Red Sea and the adjacent Gulf of Aden.

“Will they do anything except swat the missiles out of the sky? If that’s all, then will it give the assurances that are needed for shipping companies? We don’t know yet,” said one shipping industry source.

“The market needs to see it have some success or concrete action,” another source said.

The International Chamber of Shipping said it expected the new task force to enable a “co-ordinated effort across a large number of military warships that will provide a significant suppressive response”.

Container shipping companies in particular have continued to pause their voyages through the Red Sea, using instead a route around Africa that adds days to journey times and raises costs. That in turn has stoked worries about delays to deliveries and price rises that could trigger a new bout of global inflation.