Maersk temporarily halts sailing through Red Sea after attack on its Singapore-flagged ship

A SINGAPORE-FLAGGED Maersk container ship was attacked near Yemen on Sunday (Dec 31) at 1.30 am (Singapore time), prompting the Danish carrier to halt transit through the Suez Canal till Tuesday, the world’s second-largest shipping line said.

“In light of the incident – and to allow time to investigate the details of the incident and assess the security situation further – it has been decided to delay all transits through the area for the next 48 hours,” Maersk said in its response to The Business Times queries on Sunday on whether the attack on the Singapore-flagged Maersk Hangzhou would cause it to change course over its earlier decision to sail through the Red Sea.

The vessel had passed through the Bab al-Mandab Strait en route from Singapore to Port Suez, Egypt and was at 55 nautical miles south-west of Al Hudaydah, Yemen when it was hit by an unknown object.

After that initial attack, four boats approached the vessel and opened fire in an attempt to board it. A helicopter was deployed from a nearby navy vessel, and in collaboration with the vessel’s security team, the boarding attempt was repelled, said Maersk.

The crew was reported safe. Maersk is currently working to ascertain the full details of the incident and is in close dialogue with the United States-led multinational security force and the authorities to assess the security level in the area.

Maersk Hangzhou is deployed on Maersk’s service between Europe and Asia and has a capacity of 14,000 twenty-foot-equivalent-unit containers.

Major carriers have adopted different approaches to sailing through the Red Sea. Maersk and CMA CGM announced around Christmas to proceed with voyages via the waterway under naval protection. Nonetheless, Maersk had then acknowledged that the overall risk in the area is “not eliminated” in spite of the security measures, and that it would not hesitate to re-evaluate the situation and initiate diversion plans if necessary.

It is unclear if CMA CGM will proceed using the Red Sea or adopt a wait-and-see approach.

Maersk and CMA CGM had earlier announced before Christmas that they will divert from the shortest route between Asia and Europe, and reroute through the Cape of Good Hope. This is to avoid attacks from Yemeni Houthi rebels who have been targeting merchant vessels in the Red Sea in late November in response to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.

In contrast, the world’s largest boxship line Mediterranean Shipping Company and Hapag-Lloyd, whose vessels had been attacked in the Red Sea by the rebels, rerouted ships booked for Suez transit via Africa instead. Hapag-Lloyd said it considered the waterway still too dangerous to pass.

Naval presence is not foolproof against missile attacks, a veteran shipping analyst had earlier pointed out.