More than three months into International Maritime Alliance operations, Admiral Mark Miguez, commander of the Joint Fleet, acknowledged that the United States and its allies still have much work to do. We read it on Bloomberg.
“We know we have reduced some of their capabilities,” he added, standing on the navigation deck aboard the Eisenhower, but as Houthi supporters in Iran continue to send money, weapons and intelligence, including from a spy ship sailing to hundreds of miles from Iran, the Eisenhower which is directly in the Red Sea, does not predict when the task will be completed.
Miguez points to the slowdown in attacks by Sana’a forces and the shift from cruise missile attacks to less dangerous drones, which he sees as evidence that the operation is exhausting Sana’a forces, but this is not been comforting for shipping companies.
Rolf Happen Janssen, CEO of German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd, said on the March earnings call: “Either the Red Sea is safe for our workers or it isn’t, and as long as the situation is dangerous, we will not send our workers across the Red Sea.”
The German shipping company hopes the turbulence will subside in the coming months, but acknowledges that other industry players fear it will continue until 2025.
In the latest developments, the American-British company Carnival Corp., one of the largest passenger ship operators in the world, said it will not sail through the Red Sea region for the rest of the year 2024 and early next year, due to ongoing tensions at sea.
H&M, the world’s second-largest listed fashion chain, also announced that it had postponed the start of some spring and summer campaigns, to adapt to shipping delays caused by the Red Sea crisis.
According to Reuters, the company has made short-term changes to the start date and launch date of campaigns, and the postponement period will vary from country to country, but could reach around two weeks in some markets.
Clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch also recently lowered its forecast for lower shipping costs this year, due to Red Sea turbulence.
Shipping companies continue to pass through the Red Sea and reroute containers to the Cape of Good Hope route, which has increased shipping costs by a million dollars at latest estimates, as well as delaying cargo and cargo.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
