By Athena Papakosta

Attacks on container ships by Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels are spooking some of the world’s top shipping companies and oil giants and redirecting global trade and energy supplies away from a critical route that is expected to trigger delays and price hikes.

BP yesterday, Monday, announced that it was “temporarily” stopping all ship crossings through the Red Sea, describing the decision as a “precautionary stop” underlining that “the safety and protection of people and those who work on our behalf is our priority BP’.

Yesterday, oil and natural gas prices followed the upswing with market nerves remaining tense after the Houthis confirmed two new attacks on Monday which add to the already long list of recent attacks against cargo ships and oil tankers which are allegedly related with Israeli interests or moving to Israel and passing through the Straits of Bab el Madeb heading north to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal through which 10% of world trade passes.

The Houthi attacks are in retaliation for Israel’s ground attack on the Gaza Strip and have been intercepted several times by US warships. So far, shipping companies Evergreen, Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Company, Hapag-Lloyd and CMA-CGM are among the companies that have suspended ship crossings through the Red Sea.

With the new data, the route of the ships changes and they will have to – in order to continue their journey – pass around the Cape of Good Hope, a fact which will increase the cost of trade and affect the supply chains. According to the analysts, in the short term increases in product prices are expected but these, they note, will depend on how long the security crisis will last.

Should the crisis come to a head, Egypt, which is grappling with high inflation and a weakened national currency, will be directly affected as it relies heavily on Suez Canal transit fees for its revenue.

For his part, the Secretary of Defense of the United States announced at a press conference from Israel where he made a new visit on Monday that he will call his counterparts to a meeting today, Tuesday, in order to deal with the Houthi threat to shipping. “These attacks are reckless, dangerous and violate international law,” he said, adding that “we are taking action to create an international coalition to counter the threat.”

Later, from Bahrain, the US Secretary of Defense announced that the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Bahrain and the Seychelles will participate in this coalition. The operation will be called “Guardian of Prosperity” and will involve conducting joint patrols in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. “This is an international challenge that requires collective action,” pointed out Austin.

At the same time, the United States also asked the UN Security Council to take action against the attacks. In a letter sent by the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas Greenfield, she emphasizes that the Houthi attacks “threaten maritime rights, freedoms, international maritime security and international trade”.