Houthis threaten shipping companies with attacks on ships at Saudi ports
The Yemeni Houthi militias have called on shipping companies to stop loading or unloading cargo at Saudi ports. Anyone who violates this order must expect to be targeted “at any location within the operational range of the Yemeni armed forces”.
This is according to an email sent by the Sana’a-based, Houthi-run “Humanitarian Operations Coordination Centre” (HOCC) to several shipping companies, a copy of which various international media outlets have seen.
DVZ asked the container shipping lines Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk, CMA CGM, and MSC for a statement on whether they have received the warning.
All four shipping lines currently call at Saudi ports, primarily Jeddah. Maersk, for example, added Saudi Arabia’s largest port by cargo volume to its schedule in July via its independently operated MECL service and announced that, from August, it would also call at the port via the Gemini service AE15, operated jointly with Hapag-Lloyd. Hapag-Lloyd uses Jeddah as the starting point for a land bridge solution to Dammam and Jubail.
Hapag-Lloyd is making no changes
When asked, the German container shipping line stated that it could not currently confirm receipt of such an email. The company makes all operational decisions on an ongoing basis following a comprehensive safety assessment.
The safety of seafarers and vessels, as well as the protection of customers’ cargo, are the top priority. As things stand, there are no changes to the services in question; the overland transport link also remains in operation. Maersk, CMA CGM, and MSC did not respond to the enquiry.
The background to the threat – which, according to consistent reports by Reuters and Bloomberg, explicitly includes all ships calling at Saudi ports – is the naval blockade against Saudi Arabia declared by the Houthis on Monday, which opens up a potential new front in the conflict between the US and Iran.
The threat takes on particular significance due to the oil port of Yanbu: as the terminus of the Saudi east-west pipeline, it has recently been handling up to 4.6 million barrels of crude oil a day – more than three times the pre-crisis level – and is thus the key alternative route since the Strait of Hormuz was blocked.
IEA concerned about refinery output
The Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, stated on 21 July that the threat to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which has become increasingly important as a bypass route to the Strait of Hormuz, is further exacerbating the situation.
The crude oil markets were, however, still benefiting from several factors: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates continued to supply via alternative routes; other producing countries such as the US, Brazil, Venezuela, and Kazakhstan had increased their exports; and China had reduced its crude oil imports by almost 50 per cent compared with pre-crisis levels.
At the same time, Birol warned that there was no room for complacency: refining capacity and product supply had not increased to the same extent as crude oil supplies. The markets for refined products such as diesel and petrol were therefore significantly tighter than those for crude oil.
