Red Sea Crisis Forces Shipping Company 'Diana' To Stay Away From Suez Canal (Photo on X Diana Shipping Inc. @Dianaship)
Another shipping company, Diana Shipping, one of the global shipping and transportation providers, is avoiding the Suez Canal route due to the increased threat from the Houthi militants in the Red Sea, news agency Reuters reported.
The Red Sea crisis significantly disrupted the Suez Canal route shipment, a major link for trade between Europe and Asia. The canal channels around 12 percent of the world’s cargo shipments. The skipping of the route brought about significant changes in the cost of shipping, and hence the products.
The Canal is a major source of income for Egypt, contributing around 9.4 billion US dollars and 2.3 per cent of the total GDP. With the crisis and the resultant skipping of the Canal by vessels, Egypt lost a major part of this revenue.
Diana shipping president Anastasios Margaronis on a call with investors said that the Suez Canal transits are running about 40% below those seen during the first half of December last year. “This is partially the result of several operators including ourselves avoiding the area.”
Adding woes to the shipping companies, another Canal, the Panama Canal situated in Panama in Central America, connecting the Atlantic oceans and Pacific Oceans, is under threat for shipping lanes. The decreasing water level in the Canal is causing fleet difficulties in the area.
Regarding the disruptions in the international waterways, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in a report said that the transits in both canals (Panama and Suez) have almost been cut in half compared with their peaks. The report also cautioned that if the disruption of these key maritime waterways is not stopped, it could create a negative impact on the global supply chain.
The Red Sea disruption has been continuing as Israel’s war in Gaza lingers. Yemen’s Houthis are visibly bent on attacking the ships heading to Israel to persuade the country to stop its offensive in Gaza. With the US and UK attacking Yemen to confront Houthis, the group declared vessels linked to them as their added targets.
However, the unabated Israeli war in Gaza and the subsequent Red Sea crisis is somehow affecting the world world.
