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Attacks in the Red Sea and other waterways forced reroutes; IMO warns of politicization of shipping
Summary
Dominguez said attacks by Houthis in the Red Sea and drone strikes on Black Sea vessels disrupted transit, cost the Suez Canal transiting revenue and led to costly reroutes around Africa, while recent piracy upticks worry the sector.
Arsenio Dominguez described how recent hostilities and attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Black Sea disrupted trade and shifted transit patterns.
He said the Houthis' attacks in the Red Sea forced a large drop in Suez Canal transits—"the Suez Canal lost 70% of transiting revenues during that period"—and prompted reroutes around southern Africa that raised costs. Dominguez added that geopolitics are increasingly using shipping as leverage and that these disruptions have human consequences for seafarers.
On piracy, he pointed to historic Somali piracy that was curtailed by operational measures and privately contracted security, said recent incidents have risen off Somalia and Yemen in the last three to four weeks, and noted cooperating with Gulf of Guinea states such as Nigeria has reduced attacks there.
