Due to the difficult security situation in the Red Sea, Danish shipping giant Maersk is expecting an industry-wide loss in freight capacity on routes from eastern Asia to Europe of 15% to 20% in the second quarter.
Maersk released the estimates on Monday, citing attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi militants on merchant shipping in the Red Sea. The Houthi militants have said the attacks are intended to support the Palestinian militant group Hamas by making it more difficult for cargo ships to reach Israel.
The attacks have forced several major commercial shipping firms, including Maersk, to indefinitely cancel voyages through the critical Red Sea shipping corridor that connects to the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal.
That has forced shipping firms to route cargo around the southern tip of Africa, a far longer route that adds both time and additional expense to voyages.
According to Maersk, the situation in the Red Sea is causing ship congestion, delays and capacity bottlenecks. To counteract this, Maersk has increased the speed of its ships and leased more than 125,000 additional containers, according to Monday’s announcement.
The added costs are passed onto customers, the company said.
Maersk is the world’s second-largest container shipping company behind MSC.
