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President Donald Trump’s proposal to take over Gaza is hopeful that he will return to the Red Sea route after more than a year of chaos, according to ship executives.
Trump’s shocking announcement this week is fear that Yemeni Hooty militant groups can renew their threats to commercial vessels across the Red Sea after they declared that they would stop targeting most vessels following the Israeli Hamas ceasefire. has been raised.
Jan Lindbo, chief executive of product shipping group Norden, said Trump’s plans added “photos of turmoil and tension in the Middle East that could potentially extend the Red Sea issue.” The announcement increased the “risk that the Hoosis doesn’t just sit tight,” he added.
Trump’s Gaza proposal exacerbated the uncertainty his unpredictable approach is creating for the trade and shipping industry. During his first days of office, the threat of the president’s tariffs on several trading partners rekindled fears about the trade war and the decline of the global economy that could reach shipowner revenues.
Except for those registered in Israel, past transports in Yemen have increased slightly, except for those announced by Houthis on January 19 that it would lift sanctions on ships or those entirely owned by Israeli groups. I did. Since launching its campaign in late 2023 in support of Gaza’s Palestinians, Houthis has threatened all ships heading to Israeli ports and ships owned by British and US entities.
According to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, the number of passages through the Bab-Elmandev Straits, past Yemen the week after the announcement of the Hoosys, rose 4% to 223 the week after the announcement of the Hoosys. Of these ships, about 25 people said they had avoided the area since 2023 or had not historically sailed the straits.
According to commodity data company ICI, the liquefied natural gas carrier, which recently left Oman, is planning to transport its first non-Russian LNG cargo in more than a year. Sarara LNG signalled the Turkish port with its estimated arrival on February 16, suggesting that it would need to take the Red Sea route to arrive on time.
Bridget Dearken, maritime risk analyst at Lloyd’s List Intelligence, said “a few ships are back,” while others still “awaiting proof of stability.”
But now more shipowners were backing up to escalate Middle East tensions and promises to limit attacks, executives said.
Vespucci Maritime CEO Lars Jensen said early hopes to pass through the Red Sea have been destroyed, providing advisory services to shipowners and traders.
“A week ago there was a light at the end of the tunnel,” Jensen said. However, now “the chances of returning to the Red Sea are less.”
Lindbo said transport could recover after about two months of peace in the Red Sea, but Trump’s declaration “really helps to really guide confidence that this is a stable region.” It wasn’t,” he said. Middle Eastern leaders attacked Trump’s proposal.
Traders usually follow the confusion that ships travelling between Europe and Asia have taken longer routes around Africa, resulting in increased shipping and costs over a year. Itching is accompanied by a return to.
Danish container transport group APMøller-Maersk predicted this week that transactions through the Red Sea will open at best by mid-2025 and remain limited until the end of the year at worst. The former will likely leave the Danish container ship giants broken again this year, while the latter managed to earn an operating profit of around $3 billion.
“It’s a very complicated process that requires you to avoid going back for just a few months. Customers don’t want flip-flops,” CEO Vincent Clerc told Financial Times I did.
Maersk had previously attempted to return to the Red Sea in December 2023, but Housis fired almost immediately, trying to board one of the ships, urging the company to reroute the cargo again. .
“We’ll wait as long as we have questions about what things will look like a few weeks in the future,” Krelk said.
