Cosco puts Israel on the red list: Container shipping giant China Cosco Shipping Corp — the fourth largest in the world — has suspended shipping to Israel as Yemen’s armed Houthi group continued to attack vessels crossing the Red Sea, according to Israeli media outlet Globes on Sunday. The firm will no longer take bookings into Israel starting next week, a person with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.

Shipping giants deny safe passage agreement: AP Moller-Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd say they haven’t cut a side agreement with the Houthis to secure safe transport via the Red Sea. The two issued the denials after Danish publication ShippingWatch reported that unnamed shipping companies had met with the armed Yemeni group in search of a safe-passage pact, writes Bloomberg.

THE EGYPT ANGLE

Disruptions in the Red Sea have caused shipping volumes in the Suez Canal to drop 29%y-o-y for the week ending Sunday, according to tracking by the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) PortWatch platform. Journeys around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope saw a 63% y-o-y boost for the same period, PortWatch data showed. The trend is attributed to global carriers rerouting traffic away from the Red Sea and around the Cape of Good Hope, with the diversion entailing higher shipping costs and longer transit times.

Suez Canal revenues are up y-o-y and down m-o-m: Revenues at the Suez Canal hitUSD 749 mn in December, up from USD 737 mn in December 2022, Al Mal reported, citing sources it says have knowledge of the matter.

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