2023-11-21 09:12:31
After Houthi armed forces seized ships: some merchant ships made an emergency U-turn, raising concerns about European natural gas supply
2023-11-21 17:12:31
Financial Associated Press, November 21 (Editor Ma Lan) Tensions in the Red Sea region have significantly escalated due to the seizure of a ship chartered by a Japanese operator by the Houthi armed forces in Yemen. Many industry insiders are worried that this behavior will seriously affect the transportation of goods through the Red Sea and Suez Canal.
The Houthis said the ships they seized over the weekend belonged to Israeli owners. The force claims that it will target any Israeli ships in the Red Sea or within its sphere of influence as a bargaining chip for a ceasefire in Gaza.
According to a tweet by Houthi armed spokesman Yahya Sare’e on X, the Houthis will seize ships flying the Zionist flag and operated or owned by Israeli companies, and warn other countries to withdraw their citizens on these ships Avoid using related vessels for transportation or operations and stay away from these vessels.
Shipping data shows that after the seizure, two merchant ships related to the seized ship have made an emergency U-turn. For this reason, it had to pay the price of delayed cargo and extended transportation miles.
Detailed explanation of the story behind the seizure of merchant ships
Information from Ship News Network shows that the Galaxy Leader merchant ship seized last Sunday has been built since 2002. The registered owner is Ray Car Carriers, and the ship management company is Greece’s STAMCO Shipping Company. It is currently being used by Japan’s NYK Shipping Company. Rent.
The cause of the seizure was the company Ray Car Carriers. Although it was registered in the Isle of Man, a British Crown dependency, the actual controller behind it was revealed to be the wealthy Israeli businessman Abraham “Rami” Ungar.
This is not the first day that this company has been targeted by the Arab world. As early as 2021, a car carrier named Helios Ray was attacked by a bomb in the Gulf of Oman, and the ship was also owned by Ray Car Carriers.
It is worth noting that Ray Car Carriers is currently the largest independent shipowner in the car carrier market. It currently owns 65 car carriers and two very large oil tankers. The company has also ordered 8 car carriers that can use LNG. Ship new ship.
The route map shows that the Galaxy Leader was carrying thousands of cars on its way to India. There are also ship data networks saying that the ship was seized on its way from Turkey to Japan.
Before the seizure, auto industry sources said marine insurance prices for vehicles bound for Israel had jumped in recent weeks due to concerns about rocket attacks and ships were forced to skip the Israeli port of Ashdod near Gaza. Anchored in Haifa, northern Israel.
The seizure directly blocked the entry and exit channels of Ray Car Carriers’ merchant ships in the Red Sea. British maritime security company Ambrey noted on Monday that two other vessels listed as being managed by Ray Car Carriers – Glovis Star and Hermes Leader – had made emergency course changes on Sunday.
The Hermes Leader was originally due to sail through Nishtun, Yemen, but has now returned to its departure point. Ambrey said the ship’s operations would be disrupted for at least four days and it traveled an additional 1,876 nautical miles. Another, the Glovis Star, was said to have been drifting in the Red Sea for several hours.
Global transport chains are more fragile
The Red Sea is more than 200 kilometers wide in most areas, but it tightens at both ends. Its southern end, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, borders Yemen’s Mayun Island to the east and Eritrea’s Djibouti coast to the west, and is less than 20 kilometers wide.
More than 17,000 ships pass through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait every year, and according to data, among the nearly 1,500 merchant ships passing through the Strait every month, dozens may be related to Israel, making them extremely vulnerable to attacks by the Houthi armed forces. The waterway is also There is likely to be a risk of congestion due to seizure activity.
The most direct impact may appear on automobile transactions exported to the Red Sea region or shipped to Europe and the United States via the Suez Canal from the Chinese, Japanese and Korean markets. As one of the key car carrier providers, Ray Car Carriers has been on the blacklist of the Houthi armed forces, which has forced many traders who use the company’s ships to be wary.
The more profound impact is on the energy market. As an important oil and natural gas transportation artery, the Red Sea is already responsible for one-fifth of the world’s energy transportation. It is also the main channel for Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries to provide liquefied natural gas to Europe.
Vessels transporting LNG from the Middle East enter the Mediterranean after leaving the Suez Canal and deliver the cargo to LNG terminals in the Mediterranean. After regasification, the natural gas is injected into the European gas distribution network.
What’s even more troublesome is that because the water level in the Panama Canal, which connects the Gulf of Mexico and East Asia in the United States, is too low and navigation is being restricted, many commercial ships have chosen to bypass the Suez Canal or the Cape of Good Hope.
S&P Global Business Intelligence previously pointed out that liquefied natural gas importers from Japan and South Korea have changed their shipping routes to the Suez Canal, but the actions of the Houthi armed forces have undoubtedly made the fate of this canal murky.
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