"Shipping giants Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk pause Red Sea travel amid attacks" (CNBC)

[GeezerCouple]

 

Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk pause Red Sea travel...

 

per CNBC (posted 15 Dec 2023):

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/15/shipping-giants-hapag-lloyd-and-maersk-pause-red-sea-travel.html

 

Have there been any new developments about passenger sailings in this area?

I think Maersk is freight only, but Hapag-Lloyd also has passenger ships.

 

GC 

[Symmes99]

According to Cruise Mapper, Oceania Riviera was the last passenger ship to pass through the Red Sea en route to Dubai (she is now well clear of the Red Sea). It doesn’t look like any other passenger ships are queuing up for the Suez Canal. I’ve been paying attention because we board her on 12/29 in Abu Dhabi and wanted to make sure she is in port before I fly from the USA. 

[Snaefell3]

The best way to describe the Bab al-Mandab situation is "unstable".  I'm not sure even the Houthi know what they're going to do next.

 

My 2¢: The war-risk insurance rates are doubling daily, so -- short term -- cargo ship, passenger ship, or walking the shoreline that's a good place not to be.  But lots of powerful interests want the issue gone and gone very soon.

Edited December 15, 2023 by Snaefell3

[pinotlover]

In the Marine fight song “ the shores of Tripoli’ rings out an illustrious history of the force. Much like the pirates that saw their final demise there, I believe the clock is ticking on how long the pirates and rebels along the Red Sea will be tolerated before they’re dealt with harshly.

[curmudgeon98]

19 hours ago, Snaefell3 said:

The best way to describe the Bab al-Mandab situation is "unstable".  I'm not sure even the Houthi know what they're going to do next.

 

My 2¢: The war-risk insurance rates are doubling daily, so -- short term -- cargo ship, passenger ship, or walking the shoreline that's a good place not to be.  But lots of powerful interests want the issue gone and gone very soon.

I'm not sure there are any easy answers for this unstable situation.  It's a country of 30+ million population, in the middle of a 10-year civil war.  And the root of the problem is really Iran.  

[susiesan]

Maybe this is why O is not sailing through the Red Sea in 2024 to get from the Mediterranean to Abu Dhabi but is taking the long way around Africa. Perhaps their insurance carrier massively raised the rates.

[PhD-iva]

2 hours ago, susiesan said:

Maybe this is why O is not sailing through the Red Sea in 2024 to get from the Mediterranean to Abu Dhabi but is taking the long way around Africa. Perhaps their insurance carrier massively raised the rates.

Wow! When do we get to see the new itins? Are they already online?

[PhD-iva]

3 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

Wow! When do we get to see the new itins? Are they already online?

I guess they are! I see Riviera and Nautica at least.

[Snaefell3]

2 hours ago, susiesan said:

Perhaps their insurance carrier massively raised the rates

The Houthi went from targeting Israeli ships to ships bound for Israel to ships scheduled for Israel in a future voyage to all shipping in about a week.  I doubt NCLH, nevermind Oceania, even asked about rates.

[Yesimapirate]

Before everyone overeacts, please keep in mind that the pause is until Monday! Litterally 72 hours!  

[clo]

On 12/15/2023 at 2:09 PM, GeezerCouple said:

 

Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk pause Red Sea travel...

 

per CNBC (posted 15 Dec 2023):

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/15/shipping-giants-hapag-lloyd-and-maersk-pause-red-sea-travel.html

 

Have there been any new developments about passenger sailings in this area?

I think Maersk is freight only, but Hapag-Lloyd also has passenger ships.

 

GC 

I read that article. ONE company said they'd stop and look at it again in three days. None other that I saw made any commitment whatsoever.

[Snaefell3]

19 minutes ago, clo said:

I read that article. ONE company said they'd stop and look at it again in three days. None other that I saw made any commitment whatsoever.

Watch their fleets, not their press releases.  #1, #2, and #5 biggest container fleets' ships are shaping course for the Cape of Good Hope, not a "we'll decide later" sort of course.

[clo]

4 minutes ago, Snaefell3 said:

Watch their fleets, not their press releases.  #1, #2, and #5 biggest container fleets' ships are shaping course for the Cape of Good Hope, not a "we'll decide later" sort of course.

I think you and I are agreement.

 

[Snaefell3]

New development: Operation "Prosperous Guardian" will provide naval escort for convoys past Bab al-Mendab.

 

Maybe the ships can show Tom Hanks in Greyhound for evening entertainment?  

[DrHemlock]

Make it a double-feature with Captain Phillips.

[clo]

1 hour ago, Snaefell3 said:

New development: Operation "Prosperous Guardian" will provide naval escort for convoys past Bab al-Mendab.

 

Maybe the ships can show Tom Hanks in Greyhound for evening entertainment?  

Who's going to "escort" the cruise ships?

[Snaefell3]

37 minutes ago, clo said:

Who's going to "escort" the cruise ships?

Cargo ships, I doubt any cruise ship would avail itself.  Non-US flagged vessels, in any event.

 

Good question, though.  I would have thought CTF 150, but it's the Pentagon doing the leaks.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_Task_Force_150

https://gcaptain.com/pentagon-to-launch-operation-prosperity-guardian-to-reopen-red-sea-passage/

 

 

[CraigM]

There appears to be only one cruise ship in the Red Sea at the moment.

 

 

[Snaefell3]

1 hour ago, CraigM said:

There appears to be only one cruise ship in the Red Sea at the moment.

 

 

Ship tracking websites rely on each ship's "AIS" beacon, which all come with "OFF" switches.

[CraigM]

1 hour ago, Snaefell3 said:

Ship tracking websites rely on each ship's "AIS" beacon, which all come with "OFF" switches.

Well I noticed that it does show only all of the cruise lines, but not commercial shipping. Most of the cruise ships are sailing around in circles in the Med, like Riviera was doing before its dash through the Red Sea.

 

[RetiredLifer]

23 minutes ago, CraigM said:

Well I noticed that it does show only all of the cruise lines, but not commercial shipping. Most of the cruise ships are sailing around in circles in the Med, like Riviera was doing before its dash through the Red Sea.

 

Try MarineTraffic.com if you are interested in tracking commercial shipping as well as cruise ships.  I have used it for years and have been following it quite closely as we went through. If you look at the site now you will see somewhat less traffic then when we went through but there are still a lot of ships in the shipping Chanel, both going east and west. I have been on the Riviera for the last  30 days and did not “sail around in circles in the Mediterranean” nor did we “dash” through the Red Sea.  We followed the revised itinerary while in the Mediterranean and went through the Red Sea at the same pace as the other ships.

[Snaefell3]

11 minutes ago, RetiredLifer said:

went through the Red Sea at the same pace as the other ships.

Interesting.  When was this?

[Snaefell3]

18 minutes ago, RetiredLifer said:

Try MarineTraffic.com if you are interested in tracking commercial shipping as well as cruise ships.

If you visit, two things to notice:

• The number of ships showing "Destination: ARMED GUARDS ABOARD"  

• Ships teleport across the area the Houthi have been attacking (They're turning off their AIS beacons)

[RetiredLifer]

13 minutes ago, Snaefell3 said:

Interesting.  When was this?

We entered the Suez Canal on in the early morning of December10th and arrived in Abu Dhabi at 1 pm on December 17th

Edited December 18, 2023 by RetiredLifer

[RetiredLifer]

12 minutes ago, Snaefell3 said:

If you visit, two things to notice:

• The number of ships showing "Destination: ARMED GUARDS ABOARD"  

• Ships teleport across the area the Houthi have been attacking (They're turning off their AIS beacons)

We had armed guards aboard.  The Riviera on MarineTraffic.com also showed “Armed Guards aboard”. At one point when we were in the shipping channel just as we had entered the Gulf Of Aden we saw this heading in the opposite direction

 

Edited December 18, 2023 by RetiredLifer