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Yemen’s Houthi militia has attacked a US tanker, dubbed Torm Thor, in the Gulf of Aden with a number of missiles,Reuters reported on Saturday, citing a televised statement by the Iranian-backed group’s military spokesman Yahya Sarea. US Central Command (Centcom) stated that a US warship, dubbed USS Mason, downed a missile that was presumably targeting the tanker, the newswire also said. No damages or injuries to crew were reported aboard the USS Mason or the tanker, Centcom said.
US and British forces carried out more strikes against Houthi targets on Saturday, with the move gathering support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, Reuters reported. The latest hits targeted underground weapon and missile storage, air defense systems, radars, and a helicopter, dispersed across 8 sites in Yemen, the newswire said. The latest actions look to “disrupt and degrade the capabilities of the Iranian-backed Houthi militia,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.
China’s navy has dispatched its 46th fleet for an “escort mission,” in the Gulf of Aden, Xinhua reported last week. The fleet — which includes several advanced warships, replenishment vessels, officers, soldiers, special forces personnel, and helicopters — set sail from the port of Zhanjiang on Wednesday after conducting drills on responding to commercial ship hijackings, piracy, and other scenarios, Xinhua said.
ICYMI- Last week the UK and Canada called on China to play a larger role in deterring Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, following previous urging by the US.
Rubymar remains afloat, for now: A Belize-flagged cargo ship carrying 22k tonnes of fertilizer, dubbed Rubymar, remains afloat after a Houthi missile attack on Sunday caused crew to abandon ship amid reports it was taking water, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing industry sources. The attack on the ship has caused a 29 km long oil spill and the vessel’s fertilizer cargo can cause further environmental damage if it spills into the Red Sea, Centcom reportedly said. Towing the ship to nearby Djibouti for recovery and repairs appears to be the only viable option, shipping and ins. sources said, adding that towing the ship to a destination further afield or across open waters is unsafe given the vessel’s condition.
Shipping companies are being warned to remain vigilant for piracy off the African coast, as Red Sea diversions bring them within easy reach of pirate groups operating out of Somalia and in the Gulf of Guinea and pirate incidents see a resurgence, The Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing statements by International Maritime Organization (IMO) secretary general Arsenio Dominguez. Dominguez has urged shippers to return to the rigorous security measures enacted during the previous piracy crisis between 2008 to 2012. The IMO is also communicating with authorities in Somalia, East Africa, and around the Gulf of Guinea to ensure that measures are taken to curb pirate activity, Dominguez added.
A boom in vessel deliveries this year is set to bridge capacity gaps caused by Red Sea disruptionsoffering some relief to freight rates, The New York Times reported on Thursday. The freight market is expected to normalize before peak shipping season in this year’s third quarter, the NYT said, citing analysts. New vessels accounting for over a third of the industry’s capacity are set for delivery, with most being delivered before the year is out, senior director and analyst at logistics research firm Gartner, Brian Whitlock, told the NYT. Maersk is looking to up capacity by 9%, MSC — the world’s largest carrier — is set to take delivery of some 132 newbuilds, boosting capacity by 39%, while France’s CMA CGM is expected to increase capacity by 24%, Whitlock said. It is “just a matter of time,” until the industry’s capacity shortfall is resolved, the outlet cites Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc as telling investors this month.
The same cannot be said for the tanker market: Longer reroutes on the back of Red Sea disruptions and Russia’s war in Ukraine, together with a shortfall in new vessel deliveries, are yielding a capacity deficit in the tanker market that is causing freight rates to surge, Bloomberg reported yesterday. Only two new supertankers are set to be delivered this year, the lowest delivery rate in almost 40 years and 90% lower than the per year average seen since 2000, the outlet said. “The situation is tight in the tanker market, in particular for crude oil tankers,” Bloomberg cites research manager at Banchero Costa, Enrico Paglia, as saying. Low orders are continuing into next year, with only 5 supertankers set to be delivered compared to 2020’s 42 deliveries, raising expectations that tanker rates may remain elevated for a while, Bloomberg said citing figures from Banchero Costa.
Ship arrivals at Jordan’s Aqaba Port have seen a slight but “noticeable” improvement in February, head of Jordan’s Logistics Syndicate Nabil Al Khatib told Al Mamlaka on Wednesday. The improvement is attributed to carriers which had stopped services to Aqaba finding workarounds through establishing feeder routes to tranship cargoes to Aqaba via Egypt’s Dumiat, KSA’s Jeddah, and the UAE’s Jebel Ali ports, Al Khatib said. The latest meeting of a special crisis group tasked with following the effects of Red Sea disruptions on Jordan’s economy concluded with several recommendations, including reductions to customs fees and scheduled payments for taxes by importers, Al Khatib also said.
CMA CGM faces first loss in four years: Shipping giant CMA CGM noted its first quarterly loss in four years, as Red Sea disruptions and overcapacity roil the shipping sector, Bloomberg reported on Friday. The carrier saw a USD 90 mn loss in the last quarter of 2023, compared to a USD 3.04 bn gain seen during the same period the previous year, CMA CGM’s earrings release for 2023 showed. The company’s bottomline for 2023 was down more than 85% y-o-y to USD 3.64 bn, while topline figures saw a 36.9% fall during the same period to USD 47.02 bn, with the carrier attributing the falling revenues to “deteriorating conditions in maritime shipping markets,” according to the earnings release.
OTHER DISRUPTION NEWS WORTH KNOWING-
- Diana Shipping exits Red Sea: Bulk carrier Diana Shipping is the latest global carrier to halt Red Sea routes, amid a ramp up in attacks. (Reuters)
- Red Sea disruptions and OPEC+ production cuts are leading to crude shortfalls in Europe and Africa, tightening local physical markets and boosting the oil futures market. (Reuters)
