Global shipping costs are rising steeply amid heightened tensions in the Red Sea: Shipping companies have tacked on additional fees to cargo transported to and from the Middle East in a bid to offset rising costs associated with rerouting vessels to avoid the Red Sea, where Houthi hijackings and attacks on container ships transiting through the Red Sea strait continue.

ICYMI-Last week, a host of shipping companies, including Ocean Network Express, Hapag Lloyd, Evergreen, BP and Maesrk, began rerouting their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, Africa.  

Prices are soaring up to 300%: Logistics managers were quoted USD 10k per 40-foot container from Shanghai to the UK, compared to rates of around USD 2.4k the week before, sources told CNBC. Certain trade lanes could see freight rates going up between “100% to 300%,” CEO of OL USA Alan Baer told the news outlet. Truck rate quotes in the Middle East are also doubling, according to CNBC.

SHIPPING FIRMS ARE ADDING MORE FEES-

#1-Hapag-Lloyd will be introducing USD 250-1k surcharges for cargo transported between Asia and Oceania and the Middle East as of the start of January and until further notice, Reuters reports. This follows the company’s plans to reroute 25 ships to avoid the area, amidst the “uncertain situation in the Red Sea,” by the end of the year, a Hapag-Lloyd spokesperson told Reuters. Containers traveling to the Red Sea region from Asia and Oceania will receive a peak seasonal surcharge and an operational recovery surcharge, effective 1 January until further notice. Surcharges will also apply to cargo traveling between India and the Middle East to North America, effective 22 January.

#2- Maersk to impose extra charges on container transport from Asia: Danish shipping company Maersk will impose additional fees of some USD 200-2k per container, including an immediate transit disruption surcharge and peak season surcharge, which will cover extra costs associated with rerouting vessels away from the Suez Canal and around the Cape of Good Hope, effective 1 January, according to a statement. Surcharges will be applied to containers traveling from Far East Asia to Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, and North American East Coast.

But it might not last long: The world’s second-largest shipping line, is gearing up to resume operations in the Red Sea after the US-led naval coalition promised to patrol the Red Sea. “With the initiative in operation, we are preparing to allow for vessels to resume transit through the Red Sea both eastbound and westbound,” the shipping giant said in a statement, adding that this will happen “as soon as operationally possible.”

#3- French shipping and logistics company CMA CGM also announced surcharge rates,to be implemented on North Europe to Asia routes, at an additional USD 325 per 20-foot container, and Asia to Mediterranean, at an extra USD 500 per 20-foot container, according to a statement.

BY THE NUMBERS-

The number of vessels transiting the Red Sea has dropped 40% over the past week, the Associated Press reports, citing ship monitoring platform Project44. Around 25%-30% of global container shipping volumes pass through the Suez Canal per day, according to Fitch. Effective global container shipping capacity could be reduced by 10-15%, as the trip around Africa will increase travel time from Asia to Europe by 50%, Fitch calculates. Swiss logistics firm Kuehne + Nagel has tracked 313 vessels — carrying some 4.2 mn containers — that have been impacted by the security situation in the Red Sea, according to a statement.

Asian LNG prices hit a four-month low despite supply concerns amid weak demand, Reuters reports. Average LNG prices for February delivery into Northern Asia fell 6%, to USD 11.9 per mn British thermal units, its lowest level since August 2023. Spot LNG freight rates also fell sharply this week, with Atlantic rates dropping by 28% w-o-w, to USD 96.5k a day on Friday. Pacific rates similarly declined by 26% w-o-w, to USD 76.5k per day.

Activity drops in Israel’s Eilat Port: Eilat Port, Israel’s gateway for receiving shipments from the East without traveling through the Suez Canal, has witnessed a 85% drop in activity, Reuters reports.

COMPANIES ARE EXPECTING SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTIONS-

Geely + Ikea warn of supply chain disruptions: Chinese automaker Geely and Ikea have warned of delays in deliveries and potential impacts on availability of certain products, Reuters and CNBC report. Geely predicts a shortage of vessels in the second-half of January and an estimated five-fold rise in shipping costs.

Some exporters are looking to air freight to get around Red Sea disruptions: Exporters are exploring alternative air, land, and sea routes as shake ups in global supply chains continue on the back of Houthi-led attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, Reuters reported. German freight forwarder Hellmann Worldwide Logistics has seen a surge in demand for multimodal routes, whereby shipments are transported by sea to Dubai before being loaded onto planes. “This alternative route allows customers to avoid the danger zone in the Red Sea and the long voyage around the southern tip of Africa,” Hellman’s airfreight COO Kleine-Lasthues told the newswire.

The workaround is expensive: Air freight is 5 to 15 times more expensive than moving goods by sea, SEKO Logistics CCO Brian Bourke told Reuters.

And African ports are getting too busy: Vessels rerouting around Africa are facing limited choices for berthing and replenishment, logistics and supply chain consultant Alessio Lencioni told Reuters. Other major ports along the Cape route, including Port Mombasa in Kenya and Port Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, are too ill-equipped to handle the expected large volume of traffic, Lencioni relayed.

POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS?-

The new US-led coalition is like highway patrol, not Gangbusters.A US-led naval coalition will patrol “the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to respond to, and assist as necessary, commercial vessels,” but it won’t escort individual vessels, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told Bloomberg on Friday. The coalition, announced last week, now includes 20 countries, with Greece and Australia also joining the group on Thursday, Reuters reports.

Geography around the Red Sea will give it an advantage: Due to the Red Sea strait’s geography, there will typically be distance of dozens of miles between a launch point and a target, allowing for multiple opportunities for interception and “a decent chance to offer good protection,” says Brooking Institution Philip H Knight Chair in Defence and Strategy, Micheal O’Hanlon in an interview with CNBC (watch, runtime: 5:20).

Egypt and Saudi Arabia are not participating in the coalition, though Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said last week that countries bordering the Red Sea bear the responsibility of protecting freedom of navigation. “We have been cooperating with many of our partners to provide the appropriate conditions for this,” Shoukry added, speaking at a press conference with his UK counterpart David Cameron.

Egypt and Jordan agree to operate new maritime route: The two countries are inaugurating the Arab trade route connecting land and sea transportation between Aqaba and Egyptian Ports overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, Roya News reports, citing statements from General Manager of the Arab Bridge Maritime Company Adnan Al Abadleh. The new route will link ports in Egypt, including Alexandria, Port Said and Damietta, with Jordanian ports, and has met all necessary international and technical requirements for operation, Al Abadleh said. A portion of the trade from northern KSA and eastern Iraq will also be redirected towards the new route. Further information regarding operational details of the route have not been disclosed.

Iraqi ports step up to provide a transport alternative: Iraq’s Port Umm Qasr is also preparing to receive an influx of containers, in efforts to provide a secure transport route for international trade, according to a statement by Iraqi Ports General Company General Managers Farhan Al Fartousi. Goods would flow through Iraq and enter Europe through Turkey’s Mersin Port.

ATTACKS HAVEN’T STOPPED-

Vessel hijacked near Eyl, Somalia: A dhow trading vessel was hijacked near the coast of Somalia on Friday, a United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said in a statement. Details concerning the vessel ownership, name or the affiliation of the hijackers, have not been disclosed.

Tanker ship off India hit by attack drone: A Japanese-owned chemical tanker, dubbed MV Chem Pluto, flying under a Liberian flag and operated by a Dutch entity, was struck by a drone off the coast of India on Saturday, the Wall Street Journal reports. The chemical tanker was Israel-affiliated and on its way from Saudi Arabia to India. The vessel is traveling towards its destination despite the disruption, as no casualties were caused on board and a fire caused by the incident was extinguished. The US claims that the drone was “fired from Iran,” a Pentagon spokesperson told Reuters.

The US shot down four drones apparently aimed at an American destroyer in the southern Red Sea, Reuters reported overnight, saying the drones were launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

RISING TENSIONS-

The US is pointing fingers: The White House has declassified intelligence information that it says shows Yemen’s Houthis rely on Iranian-provided monitoring systems to launch attacks on ships, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson told CNN. “Iran has the choice to provide or withhold this support, without which the Houthis would struggle to effectively track and strike commercial vessels navigating shipping lanes through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” Watson added.

Iran dismisses US claims: The Houthis are acting on their own, says Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, who dismissed US accusations of Tehran’s involvement in Houthi attacks on commercial ships as “baseless,” Bloomberg reports.

Iran is threatening to close the Mediterranean, the strait of Gibraltar, and other waterways if Israel and the US do not stop their “crimes” in Gaza, Reuters reports, citing Iranian Revolutionary Guards Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi. Naqdi didn’t say how Iran could close the Med, but warned the country has “new powers of resistance.”