Transportation Roundup: Nearly 6 million TEUs diverting Red Sea

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As of Jan. 5, more than 420 container ships carrying 5.75 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) have diverted the Red Sea and are traveling around Cape of Good Hope. These shipment delays, coupled with the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, are causing congestion in ports and increased spot rates. The next few weeks ahead of the New Year are expected to be very difficult for shippers but should subside after the holiday, according to Drewry Shipping in Journal of Commerce.

The Houthi attacks appear to be only affecting container traffic, as tanker and dry bulk vessels continue to use the Red Sea and Bab-el-Mandeb Strait at similar rates as before.

Operation Prosperity Guardian, the U.S.-led initiative to protect international ships on the Red Sea hasn’t gained traction as expected. Tobias Borck of the Royal United Services Institute believes the lack of participation could be due to political framing of the initiative, which has public participation from fewer than half of the countries expected to join. While there is strong support for the mission, the issue lies within the way the Houthis are framed.

“What’s at issue is the framing of the Houthis, and the way they are seeking to frame it,” Borck said. “On one side, [they] are compared to Somali pirates – armed non-state actors assaulting free movement – but on the other, they claim they are doing this to engender a ceasefire in Gaza.”

Read more about the initiative here.