(PatriotSpotlight.org) – A Denmark-based shipping giant has told its clients to prepare for prolonged trade disruptions amid attacks on Red Sea shipping. Maersk, a top global shipping firm headquartered in Copenhagen, issued a major warning to its clients on Wednesday, February 14th, stressing that the crisis in the region could carry on until late 2024.
The firm’s regional president for North America, Charles van der Steene, made the shocking claims during a televised interview with CNBC. He said he had advised clients to account for possible delays in potential delays, with transport times likely to extend into this year’s third quarter. The attacks have already led scores of global corporations to divert their vessels from the Red Sea, which usually sees traffic from at least 15 percent of commercial shipping each year.
The raging conflict in the major global shopping lane was initiated by the Houthi rebels, an Iran-linked Shia proxy controlling vast areas of coastal Yemen. The Islamist insurgents have been warring with the official US-recognized Yemeni government and a Saudi-led coalition since civil war broke out in 2015. The group has launched a series of attacks on civilian trade vessels, citing perceived aggression by its regional adversaries, including Israel and Saudi Arabia. The recent escalation came in the wake of Israel’s response to the October 7th attack by Hams and other Gaza-based terror groups, leaving over 1000 Israelis dead, kidnapped or injured, including civilians.
In December Maersk decided to suspend its shipping operations in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, both of which are situated close to Yemen’s coast. It briefly resumed operation after the launch of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a multilateral naval mission geared toward countering the Houthi onslaught. However, the Danish company indefinitely suspended its work in the region in January following the targeting of one of its commercial vessels. While the US and UK have recently led efforts to counter the Houthi threat, including a series of airstrikes on its positions on the Yemeni coast, the militia continues to threaten maritime traffic along the vital shipping route.
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