Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd dont see any immediate return to Red Sea

COPENHAGEN : Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, stated on Thursday that they are not thinking of an immediate return to Red Sea after the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was announced.

Both companies said they would be closely monitoring the situation in the Middle East and would return to the Red Sea once it will be safe to do so.

“The agreement has only just been reached. We will closely analyze the latest developments and their impact on the security situation in the Red Sea,” a Hapag-Lloyd spokesperson told Reuters.

“It is still too early to speculate about timing,” a Maersk spokesperson said.

Hapag-Lloyd had already flagged in June that a ceasefire would not mean an immediate resume of passage through the Suez Canal, as attacks from Yemen-based Houthi militants could still be possible.

Rearranging the schedule would take between four and six weeks, a company spokesperson said at the time.

Disruptions in the Middle East have caused shipping companies to divert their vessels towards longer routes, often forcing their container ships around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, pushing freight rates higher and disrupting global ocean shipping.

Source : Reuters