Ayman Shalaby, director of MedBulk Shipping Solutions, confirmed that container shipping companies now have no alternative route other than crossing the Cape of Good Hope, noting that each ship crossing the Cape of Good Hope costs an additional one million dollars, with increased time and a reduced supply of cargo ships.
Shalaby added, in an interview with Al Arabiya Business, that ships are still passing through the Suez Canal, but the departure of container ships will greatly affect the canal.
He continued: There are major disruptions affecting the container shipping sector, with more than 138 container ships stranded inside the Gulf.
Global energy markets are experiencing increasing anxiety as the conflict in the Middle East widens, threatening a global energy crisis due to disruptions in key supply routes and declining production at several refineries in the region.
Reports indicate that an increasing number of oil tankers have begun diverting away from the Arabian Gulf towards the Red Sea, as Saudi Arabia works to load additional quantities of crude oil via the port of Yanbu.
This comes at a time when shipping traffic has declined almost entirely through the Strait of Hormuz, the passage through which about 20% of the world's oil supply passes.
This halt in shipping has led to storage tanks in several countries in the region becoming full, prompting a number of refineries to reduce their production capacity.
In global markets, Brent crude recorded weekly gains of nearly 28%, surpassing the $92 per barrel level, its biggest weekly jump since April 2022.
In a related development, the administration of US President Donald Trump announced a $20 billion reinsurance program aimed at revitalizing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) stated that it has begun implementing marine reinsurance coverage in the Gulf region, including war risk, with the goal of supporting trade stability.
The corporation explained that the mechanism will cover losses of up to approximately $20 billion on a revolving basis, initially limited to ships only. This announcement comes days after Trump directed the corporation to provide insurance at a very reasonable price to ensure the continued flow of energy and other commercial activities in the Gulf, at a time when oil prices continue to rise.
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