According to a report in The Loadstar, the Houthis in Yemen have confirmed that they will stop attacking vessels in the Red Sea, other than those owned by Israeli companies or sailing under the Israeli flag. The report says that the group has extorted over $2bn in ransom payoffs since the attacks began. It would, however, resume attacks on UK or US flag vessels if those countries engaged in aggression against Yemen.
It is hoped, therefore, that Red Sea transits will resume. Peter Sand, the chief analyst at Xeneta, the world’s largest ocean and air freight rate benchmarking and market analytics platform, said that he expects a period of chaos as schedules are changed once again as large numbers of ships arrive at ports at the same time causing delays and congestion. Pater Sand also predicts that freight rates will collapse as the market will be flooded with capacity.
Shipping lines and insurance companies, however, are reported to be reticent about returning to the Suez route until there are stronger indications of security stability in the area.