Red Sea shipping disruption

Extracted Attributes

• Start Date

  2023-10-19

• Trade Impact

  50% reduction in Suez Canal trade volume in early 2024

• Inflation Impact

  Estimated 0.7 percentage point increase in global core goods inflation

• Primary Location

  Red Sea and Bab-el-Mandeb strait, Yemen

• Alternative Route

  Cape of Good Hope, South Africa

• Global Trade Share

  30% of global container trade transits through the Suez Canal

• Shipping Cost Increase

  Nearly five-fold surge on routes from Asia to Europe

Timeline

• Houthi rebels in Yemen begin launching missiles and drones at Israel and merchant vessels. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2023-10-19

• Major container shipping lines begin halting Red Sea transits due to Houthi attacks. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2023-12-01

• The UN Security Council adopts Resolution 2722, condemning Houthi attacks and affirming freedom of navigation. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2024-01-10

• The US and UK lead coalition air and missile strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2024-01-12

• Houthi attacks surpass 60 vessels since the start of the crisis. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2024-03-01

• Yemeni general Yahya Saree announces plans to target ships heading to Israeli ports in the Mediterranean Sea. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2024-05-03

• Total Houthi attacks on shipping reach over 190 incidents. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2024-10-01

• US President Donald Trump announces a cessation of US strikes following a bilateral ceasefire with the Houthis. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2025-05-06

Red Sea crisis

The Red Sea crisis (Arabic: أزمة البحر الأحمر) began on 19 October 2023, when the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen launched missiles and armed drones at Israel, demanding an end to the invasion of the Gaza Strip. The Houthis have since seized or bombarded dozens of merchant and naval vessels in the Red Sea and received hundreds of retaliatory air strikes by the United States and allied forces. The crisis is linked to the Gaza war, the Iran–Israel proxy war, and the Yemeni crisis. Since 2014, the Houthis, who oppose Yemen's internationally recognized government, have controlled a considerable swath of the country's territory along the Red Sea. Shortly after the outbreak of the Gaza war, the Hamas-allied group began to launch missiles and drones at Israel. It has also fired on merchant vessels in the Red Sea, particularly in the Bab-el-Mandeb, the southern maritime gateway to the Suez Canal, damaging the global economy. The group declared that it would not stop until Israel ceased the Gaza war. The Houthis declared any Israel-linked ship was a target for attack, including US and UK warships, but they also attacked the ships of nations with no connection to Israel. From October 2023 to March 2024, the Houthis attacked more than 60 vessels in the Red Sea. To avoid attack, hundreds of commercial vessels were rerouted to sail around South Africa. Houthi Red Sea attacks have drawn military responses from a number of countries. In January 2024, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2722, condemning the Houthi attacks and affirming freedom of navigation. The United States-led Operation Prosperity Guardian was launched to protect Red Sea shipping. From 12 January 2024, the US and UK led coalition air and missile strikes against the Houthis, while other countries are independently attacking Houthi vessels in the Red Sea. On 3 May 2024, Yemeni general Yahya Saree said, "We will target any ships heading to Israeli ports in the Mediterranean Sea in any area we are able to reach". On 6 May 2025, US president Donald Trump announced a cessation of US strikes as a result of a bilateral ceasefire between the US and the Houthis.

Web Search Results

• Red Sea Shipping Disruption and its Global Impact - Hillebrand Gori

  ## Challenges of Red Sea Shipping The Red Sea shipping crisis has caused significant disruption to global trade: trade passing through the Suez Canal fell by 50% in the first two months of 2024. The situation presents a clear trade risk for the alcoholic beverage sector. The key challenges include: [...] Disruption to the Red Sea shipping route is primarily due to Houthi attacks on vessels in the region. This has led shipping companies to reroute their vessels around the longer Cape of Good Hope route, which has created delays in shipping due to longer transit times and lower capacity. ##### [...] However, since December 2023, Houthi rebel attacks have been carried out against commercial shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connects the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea. As a result, all major container shipping lines are no longer using the Red Sea shipping route. The longer diversion around the Cape of Good Hope has significantly increased transit times for shipping journeys between Asia and Europe.

• The Impacts of the Red Sea Shipping Crisis

  With 30% of global container trade passing through the Suez Canal, the Red Sea shipping crisis is upending supply chains. This is compounded by the ongoing shipping disruptions caused by blockages in the Panama Canal, which is experiencing one of the region’s worst droughts since the 1950s. [...] With 30% of global container trade transiting through the Suez Canal, the Red Sea shipping crisis is upending supply chains. It is also increasing shipping costs, causing the prices of some routes — particularly from Asia to Europe — to surge nearly five-fold. Higher shipping costs are likely to pass through to imported goods prices with a lag, depending on both the duration and intensity of the crisis. [...] Overall, J.P. Morgan Research estimates the disruptions could add 0.7 percentage points to global core goods inflation, and 0.3 percentage points to overall core inflation, during the first half of 2024 if the recent jump in container shipping costs persists. However, much of this impact will likely not be felt until late in the first quarter or early in the second quarter. “If sustained, there could also be a hit to global industry on the downside. This reinforces our concerns that global

• The ongoing ripple effects of Red Sea shipping disruptions

  The Red Sea situation has created a complex web of challenges for global trade, from increased transit times and capacity strains to higher costs and uncertainty. No one knows how long it will take for the effects of Red Sea shipping disruptions to ease, and how long a return to ‘normal’ could take. The challenges have underscored the need for businesses to develop strategies to enhance supply chain resilience and for carriers to assess the potential to better protect themselves from [...] Over six months have passed since the Red Sea tensions began, and the ripple effects on maritime shipping and global supply chains have intensified. Ships continue to be temporarily diverted around the Cape of Good Hope, significantly increasing transit times and operational costs. Regular service reconfigurations and volume changes have put pressure on infrastructure, contributing to port congestion, delays, and capacity and equipment shortages. At the same time, demand for container shipping [...] The effects of the Red Sea shipping situation has extended well beyond the region and created significant disruptions in the flow of freight around the world.

• The Red Sea Shipping Crisis (2024–2025): Houthi Attacks and ...

  Moreover, the disruption highlighted the need for other routes of trade, and investment and development have been put into routes bypassing the Red Sea, such as the route bypassing Africa’s Cape of Good Hope (Delivorias, 2024). Raising costs and transit times (New Zealand Embassy in Cairo, 2021), this strategic realignment presents opportunities for countries along these alternative routes to enhance their logistics and port infrastructures. [...] #### What Comes Next Long-term international maritime security requires collective effort beyond military interventions. Reduction of trade routes diversification is called for to lessen Red Sea disruption, as testified by the boost in traffic via the Cape of Good Hope. Companies now must integrate geopolitical risk analysis into their logistics planning to pass through such risky chokepoints and design supply chains robust. #### Reference list [...] Since November 2023, Houthi attacks (over 190 by October 2024) significantly disrupted Red Sea/Aden Gulf shipping (House of Commons Library Specialists, 2025). Freight/insurance costs surged, with many rerouting via Cape of Good Hope (International Crisis Group, 2025). This impacts Europe, Asia, Africa (Suez revenue down) (Delivorias, 2024). Naval coalitions formed, and some military strikes/sanctions occurred (Baldor & Coop, 2025). #### The Red Sea’s Strategic Importance

• The Red Sea Crisis: Impacts on global shipping and the case ...

  main container shipping companies are global operators that can shift their ship capacity from one to another shipping route, depending on the circumstances. If the Red Sea disruption and the related re-routing via southern Africa continues, global shipping lines might also restructure their shipping networks. For example, instead of relying on Eastern Mediterranean ports as transhipment hubs (used to load cargo from one ship to another) they might rely more on ports in the Western [...] maritime responses, also impose costs on shipping companies, shippers and states. Costs for shipping companies The situation in the Red Sea has increased costs for shipping companies: both those with ships that continue to transit the Red Sea and Suez Canal, and those with ships that sail around the Cape of Good Hope instead. When comparing costs in the current situation with those prior to the disruption in the Red Sea, both scenarios (using the Suez Canal-route or using the Cape of Good