Egypt’s treasury, rather than US military might, holds the key to resolving tensions disrupting global shipping in the Middle East, a leading shipowner believes.
Persistent attacks by Houthi rebels on merchant vessels have provoked airstrikes led by the US and the UK and an exodus of merchant vessels from what is being described privately in some shipping circles as the Red Sea war zone.
Trouble flared in the area before Christmas and has escalated in the new year with attacks on container ships under navy escort this week.
Blue Ocean Partners managing partner Jake Scott told the Marine Money conference in London yesterday that the loss of Suez Canal revenue to the Egyptian economy as vessels reroute from the area could provide the key to unlocking a solution.
“Every shipowner here should just start going around [the Cape of Good Hope],” he said.
“The only way that this stops is if the Egyptians feel the financial pain and they call Iran and say stop this immediately.
“The US can drop all the bombs in the world. I don’t see a solution here, unless the Egyptians get involved and say: ‘Hey, the gravy train has stopped, fix this’.”
Scott has been in shipping for more than 20 years and is a director of chemical tanker pool Womar, having managed its investment in the listing of Stainless Tankers in Oslo.
The drama in the Red Sea, which had now spread to the Gulf of Aden, has seen car carriers completely abandon the area for the first time in three decades, Gram Car Carriers board chief Ivar Myklebust said.
Owners of tankers, bulkers, LNG carriers and container ships have all increasingly avoided the area. As a result, The Suez Canal Authority is advertising itself as a repair base for vessels damaged in Bab el-Mandeb crossings.
As TradeWinds reported earlier this week, the US arm of Maersk suspended voyages through the Red Sea after two of its container ships came under missile attack while being escorted by the US Navy.
The 6,200-teu Maersk Detroit and 2,474-teu Maersk Chesapeake (both built 2008) turned around in the Red Sea and were escorted back to the Gulf of Aden.
The master of an unidentified ship reported an explosion 100 metres from its starboard side, the UK Maritime Trade Operations said earlier.
