AIn view of the ongoing tense situation in the Red Sea, Hapag-Lloyd is offering its customers a transit service across Saudi Arabia. Containers are to be brought by truck from three ports on the Persian Gulf to Jeddah on the Red Sea, a company spokesman explained on Monday when asked.
Jeddah lies about halfway between the Bab al-Mandab Strait off Yemen, from where Houthi rebels have attacked ships, and the Suez Canal. Germany's largest container shipping company is also sticking to its decision to avoid the maritime area in the Middle East and reroute its ships around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa.
With the transit through Saudi Arabia, Hapag-Lloyd is offering a “convenient emergency solution” until the situation in the Red Sea normalizes, the Hamburg-based company wrote in a message to its customers published online. In the Persian Gulf, the transshipment points involved are Al-Jubail and Dammam in Saudi Arabia and the port of Jebel Ali in Dubai.
Then through the Suez Canal
From Jeddah, the containers would then be shipped primarily through the Suez Canal to their destination, the spokesman explained. But there are also direct deliveries in Saudi Arabia. The costs for land transport are significantly higher and capacities are very limited. The offer is therefore only aimed at transporting particularly valuable and time-critical freight. The spokesman did not want to comment on the prices that Hapag-Lloyd charges for the additional service.
The land transport corridors are not the optimal solution in terms of capacity, Hapag-Lloyd continued in the customer note. But overland routes offer another option for transportation, especially when other alternative routes become too long. The newly created truck connection through Saudi Arabia is significantly faster than the ship route.
Hapag-Lloyd – like other major shipping companies – has not sent ships through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal for weeks, but has instead rerouted them around the southern tip of Africa. This leads to delays, higher costs and fees. The usual route via the Red Sea, the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean is the shortest shipping connection between Southeast Asia and Europe.
Most recently, the world's fifth largest shipping company decided every week whether it would continue to bypass the area. On Monday, however, it was said that the diversion regulations would now apply until further notice. Developments on site are continuously monitored. “As soon as the situation changes and it is safe again, we will direct our ships through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.”
In Yemen, the Houthi rebels have declared solidarity with the radical Islamic Hamas in the Gaza Strip and have repeatedly attacked ships off the coast they control. A Hapag-Lloyd ship was also attacked on December 15th. According to insiders, it is now becoming apparent that EU states want to take part in military protection of shipping in the Red Sea.
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