Maersk Red Sea halt prompts more Cape diversions
Lloyd’s List Intelligence data shows that several ships operated by Maersk have changed course to head south, even though they originally planned to navigate the shorter Suez Canal route
Many more originally Suez Canal-bound ships are now marked ‘to be announced’, with 54 such vessels still to confirm their course at this stage compared with 25 in the carrier’s January 1 update
SEVERAL Maersk containerships originally planned to traverse the Suez Canal have been diverted around the Cape of Good Hope, following the company’s second suspension of Red Sea operations.
The decision to halt transits was announced on January 2 after the 15,266 teu Maersk Hangzhou (IMO: 9784300) was attacked by Houthi militants in the region.
Lloyd’s List Intelligence’s vessel-tracking data shows that a few ships operated by the Danish carrier have turned their bows southward, despite previously being on the shorter route via the Egypt-controlled canal.
The 19,630 teu westbound Manila Maersk (IMO: 9780469) changed course around 2100 hrs GMT on January 2 near Sri Lanka. The other two were the 7,060 teu Clifford Maersk (IMO: 9198575) and 8,450 teu Maersk Sydney (IMO: 9289958) heading to the region from the US east coast. They changed direction in the North Atlantic yesterday and the day before.
These three are part of 175 vessels covered in Maersk’s updated diversion schedule published on January 3.
Additionally, the status of two more ships — the 15,226 teu Maersk Havana (IMO: 9784336) and 15,282 teu Maersk Horsburgh (IMO: 9784269) — has also changed from “continue via Suez Canal” to “diverted via Cape of Good Hope”. They were located off South Korea’s Busan and Singapore, respectively.
Many more originally canal-bound ships are now marked as “to be announced”, with 54 such vessels compared with 25 in the January 1 update.
Several ships have also had their status shift from TBA to sailing around Africa. For example, the 18,340 teu Mathilde Maersk (IMO: 9632179) made a U-turn near Greece after entering the Mediterranean from the Netherlands, and is now heading for the Strait of Gibraltar at 20 knots.
Maersk was the first carrier to announce readiness to resume operations on the Red Sea after its initial pause on December 15. But the attack on Maersk Hangzhou disrupted plans, despite the US and its allies starting to provide naval escorts in the area.
The route disruption has sharply driven up freight rates. CMA CGM announced its Asia-Mediterranean rates for Freight All Kinds will rise to $3,500-3,650 per teu or $6,000-6,300 per feu from January 15.
Meanwhile, the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index released last Friday showed spot rates to main ports in Europe and the Mediterranean jumped 80% and 70%, respectively, over the previous week to $2,694 and $3,491 per teu.
