Maersk Won’t Return to Red Sea Just Yet as Risks Remain ‘Elevated’

Maersk is still waiting it out to return its ships to the Red Sea, with the container shipping giant telling customers that the risk to traverse the waterway remains “elevated.”

Since mid-November 2023, the shipping route through the Red Sea has been disrupted by a series of attacks on commercial vessels by the Yemen-based Houthi movement, with no timetable in sight for when the onslaught will stop.

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“We continue with our own assessment that current situation does not allow us to make a similar decision and with thus still believe that sailing via the Cape of Good Hope and around Africa is the most reasonable solution at the moment and the one that currently allows the best supply chain stability,” said Maersk in a Friday notice. “Network changes are complex and take time to implement and we believe we should only implement such changes when they can be sustained over a longer period of time. We continue to believe it is the only way to avoid further disruption under the current circumstances.”

The Red Sea attacks, while persistent, luckily haven’t caused much of a dent to apparel retail sales, even in areas like Europe that have seen more of a direct impact. In the most recent example, Next said Thursday it doesn’t expect the Red Sea skirmish to have material impact to overall sales—an improvement over when the fashion retailer cautioned in January that sales growth would likely moderate if disruption to shipments through the Suez Canal continued through the year.

Maersk’s statement highlighted recent attacks on vessels, including those on the True Confidence, in which three seafarers were killed in the first fatal attack since the Houthis began their assault—as well as those on the Rubymar, the bulk tanker that was the first ship to sink since the incidents began. The global logistics company said the incidents highlight the “lethal effectiveness” of Houthi missile attacks and contributed to its decision.

“As we have mentioned many times, our utmost priority remains the safety and wellbeing of our crews, the safety of vessels they are sailing on and the safety and integrity of our customers’ cargo we are transporting,” Maersk said. “We would like to thank all our customers who have shown appreciation and the understanding of the decisions we have been taking.”

In the advisory, Maersk welcomed the European Union’s recently launched naval security operation, Aspides, calling it a “very positive development” in the Red Sea despite the continued avoidance of the waterway across most major container shipping line. Aspides is designed as a deterrent to the ongoing attacks alongside already established initiatives such as the U.S.-led Operation Prosperity Guardian.

Aspides reported on March 19 that it has already escorted 35 merchant vessels in its first month of existence.

In December, Maersk first suspended transits in the Red Sea and the neighboring Gulf of Aden after a missile was fired at the Maersk Gibraltar vessel from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen. The missile did not strike the ship. By the end of the month, after the formation of Operation Prosperity Guardian, the ocean carrier resumed sailing in the area.

But the about-face didn’t last long. Maersk suspended shipping a second time for the “foreseeable future” in early January after one of its container ships, the Maersk Hangzhou, fell victim to a missile attack. Contemporaries including Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), Hapag-Lloyd, Evergreen and ZIM have also largely avoided the Red Sea, with French-owned CMA CGM returning on a “case-by-case” basis and Chinese-owned Cosco Shipping continuing to make voyages through.

“At Maersk, we are aware that some other shipping lines have continued sailing through the Red Sea despite security risks or have announced their plans to resume sailing,” Maersk said. “We respect the right of each carrier to make such decisions individually.”

While Maersk continues to monitor the Red Sea situation, it is reinstating a trans-Pacific ocean liner service from China to the U.S. East Coast in April amid a slight easing of Panama Canal transit restrictions and improving container import volume into the U.S.

The “TP20” service was halted in February 2023, 18 months after its launch in August 2021 due to reduced global demand as freight rates continued their sustained dissent.

On April 21, the 4,334-20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) vessel Maersk Wallis will be the first ship to sail, beginning its voyage out of China’s Port of Qingdao. The ship will also load at Shanghai and Yantian in China, and at Newark, Baltimore and Houston on the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts.