Started during the covid-19 pandemic, the crisis in the transport of materials and products, particularly from Asia to Europe, now seems to have entered a new chapter linked to the Israeli-Palestinian war
The Red Sea is at the center of the crisis that is jeopardizing world trade. If starting from 2020, with the pandemic, we have witnessed a drastic reduction in the availability of raw materials, due to the prolonged closure of factories and production plants, subsequently the difficulty of supply has transformed, again due to the pandemic and the restrictions launched to limit it, in difficulty with transport. Now, between 2023 and 2024, here is the feared upgrade, with attacks by Yemeni rebels in the Red Sea aimed at merchant ships traveling from Asia to the Middle East and Europe. It should be kept in mind, in fact, that the passage through the Red Sea represents 12% of global maritime trade, with the transport of goods worth 1.2 trillion dollars a year.
Well, since the end of 2023 the Houthis, a group of pro-Shiite Yemeni rebels backed by Iran, began attacking merchant ships in the Red Sea, in support of Hamas and Palestine in the war against Israel. The government of Yemen has declared the Houthis a “terrorist organization”, and similarly this violent and unmanageable armed group is defined by the governments of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia, demonstrating that it does not represent Islam in its entirety, but rather a small economic and political interest group.
Currently controlling much of western Yemen, including the capital Sana’a’, the Houthis pose a real threat to world trade and are at war not only with the state of Israel but also with an Arab coalition that includes Yemen and Saudi Saudi.
In the last month and a half, more than two hundred ships have reported having suffered attacks and accidents, and have been forced to change course. No ships were sunk nor were any casualties reported, however the danger of the attacks in a strait of sea just 32 kilometers wide, between Yemen and Djibouti, has led most shipowners – including MSC and Maersk – to avoid this route. The safest route, at the moment, is the one that involves going around the Cape of Good Hope, in South Africa, to reach Europe by going up along the Atlantic coast of Africa. But it is a detour of 9,000 kilometres, which involves “between six and fourteen days of extra travel”, according to the estimate of Guy Platten, secretary general of the International Chamber of Shipping. Furthermore, ship insurance policies and, obviously, fuel consumption have significantly increased, with consequent repercussions on the prices of goods and carbon dioxide emissions.
The United States has announced an operation called “Prosperity Guardian” aimed at restoring order in the Red Sea, conducted by a coalition which includes, among others, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Norway, Australia and Seychelles.
If on the one hand the Houthis openly declare that the attacks will continue until Israel stops operations in Gaza, on the other hand the West is preparing to respond with weapons – or at least with an armed surveillance operation on merchant ships, a a bit like during the Second World War for the convoys of food and equipment that arrived from the United States in support of the allied belligerent powers in Europe. As if the pandemic had not been enough to put the world economy to the test, now comes this challenge, whose playing field – a very serious and dangerous game – is the narrow and busy Red Sea.
