{"id":76368,"date":"2024-01-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/logistics\/2024\/01\/29\/red-sea-tensions-continue-amid-squabbles-between-china-and-israel\/"},"modified":"2024-01-29T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T00:00:00","slug":"red-sea-tensions-continue-amid-squabbles-between-china-and-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/logistics\/2024\/01\/29\/red-sea-tensions-continue-amid-squabbles-between-china-and-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Sea tensions continue amid squabbles between China and Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong>More attacks in the Red Sea:<\/strong> British warship HMS Diamond downed a Houthi drone targeting the vessel on Saturday, a day after a Houthi-launched missile hit<\/a>Marshall-flagged Marlin Luanda<\/a> in the Gulf of Aden while transiting the Red Sea, Reuters<\/a> reports, citing British officials. The warship destroyed the drone, with no injuries to crew or damage to the vessel, the newswire cited the UK\u2019s Minister of Defence as saying yesterday.<\/p>\n

The <\/strong>Marlin Luanda<\/strong> attack set fire to one of the vessel\u2019s cargo tanks with no harm caused <\/strong>to crew<\/strong>, according to a statement<\/a> by the vessel\u2019s operator, multinational commodities trader Trafigura. Trafigura has said that it will assess the risks involved in future Red Sea transits following the incident, adding that it has no vessels currently operating in the region, according to an update to the company\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n

US strikes back: <\/strong>Hours after the attack on the fuel tanker, the US Navy launched a strike against a Houthi anti-ship missile being prepped for launch in the Red Sea area, US Centcom said<\/a> on X. The US Navy assessed that the missile presented an \u201cimminent threat\u201d to merchant shipping and US naval vessels in the region and destroyed the missile site in \u201cself-defense,\u201d Centcom said. The US and UK also launched an additional two airstrikes on Yemen\u2019s main oil export terminal \u2014 Ras Issa Port, Reuters<\/a> reported on Saturday, citing Houthi Al-Masira television as saying.<\/p>\n

Chinese firms have been betting on Houthi promises:<\/strong> A number of smaller Chinese shipping lines have been flocking to fill the vacuum of ships navigating the Red Sea route under their \u201cperceived immunity\u201d from Houthi missiles, The Financial Times<\/a> reported on Thursday. One of the opportunistic shipping companies emphasizes on its website that its ships prominently display the Chinese flag and sail though the Red Sea with Chinese navy escorts, the salmon-colored paper adds. <\/p>\n

Chinese investments in Israel\u2019s ports represent a \u201cstrategic risk\u201d:<\/strong> Bayport terminal at Israel\u2019s Haifa port, run by China\u2019s Shanghai International Port Group<\/a> (SIPG), represents a \u201cstrategic risk\u201d to Israel, Reuters<\/a> reported on Friday, citing a 17 January letter written by Ashdod port chairman Shaul Schneider it has seen. Israel\u2019s state-owned Ashdod Port will stop information sharing with SIPG Bayport terminal and will no longer coordinate on security threats, Schneider is cited as stating. Israel\u2019s shipping and ports authority chief rebuffed the letter, stating that its claims were \u201cinaccurate to the point of being wrong,\u201d and warned of their implications for the country\u2019s political and trade relations, the newswire said. SIPG countered that their activities were in accordance with Israeli law. <\/p>\n

The conflict between the two ports has been aggravated by a shi<\/strong>ft in market share since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict<\/strong>, with cargoes diverted northward away from Ashdod \u2014 Israel\u2019s last state-owned port \u2014 and SIPG\u2019s Haifa terminal seeing a boost in volumes, the newswire writes. Chinese carriers OOCL and COSCO also stopped their operations in Israel citing Houthi-led attacks, further inflaming tensions.<\/p>\n

Egypt is still facing trouble: <\/strong>Suez Canal Authority (SCA) revenues will be \u201cseverely affected\u201dthis year if commercial vessels continue to divert their routes from the waterway, SCA boss Osama Rabie told Asharq Business<\/a> on Thursday. The Houthi attacks have increased costs and risks for maritime lines and pushed many companies to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope or even look to air freight<\/a> and overland routes as alternatives. <\/p>\n

By the numbers:<\/strong> Suez Canal receipts have fallen 44% y-o-y to USD 802 mn in January 2024, Rabie told the news outlet. Egypt has lost about USD 150 mn in Suez Canal revenues due to ongoing Red Sea disruptions, according to estimates shared by Bloomberg\u2019s chief emerging markets economist Ziad Daoud earlier in the month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A warning from Deutsche Bank: <\/strong>Egypt could lose around USD 2 bn in revenues over a three-month period if disruption in the Red Sea leads to ins. premiums rising to \u201cunsustainable levels\u201d that it effectively stops Suez Canal traffic, the multinational lender warned in a research note seen by Enterprise. However, Deutsche Bank put the risk of a full closure of the channel as \u201cunlikely\u201d and instead predicted that \u201cEgypt is likely to witness a partial \u2014 but not complete \u2014 loss in its revenue stream from the Suez Canal.\u201d<\/p>\n

And d<\/strong>isruptions continue to delay LNG supplies from Qatar:<\/strong> Italian energy firm Edison<\/a> is witnessing delays to liquified natural gas (LNG) supplies from Qatar, on the back of Red Sea disruptions, the firm's CEO is cited by Reuters<\/a> as saying on Thursday. A shipment scheduled to arrive in Italy in early February will arrive some two weeks late, he explained. \u201cFor now this has happened to one cargo,\u201d Monti said, adding that his firm is closely following developments in the Red Sea.<\/p>\n

Aramex is seeking alternative routes:<\/strong>Aramex Freight Services<\/a> will be loading shipments from Asia onto its fleet of trucks in Dubai and Dammam in KSA, while doing the same for shipments from Europe at Port Said in Egypt, in a bid to accommodate reshuffles to sea freight routes due to disruptions in the Red Sea, according to a statement<\/a> released on Saturday. Aramex is \u201cactively monitoring\u201d the crisis, which has prompted carriers to navigate around the Cape of Good Hope, adding some 7 to 14 days to transit times and boosting carbon emissions, the statement said.<\/p>\n

OTHER DISRUPTION NEWS WORTH NOTING-<\/strong><\/p>\n