Update The situation in the Red Sea - attack on container ship during New Year's Eve The attacks we have seen against ships in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait escalate between 30 and 31 December. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels operating in Yemen fired missiles at a container ship on December 30 and attempted to board the same vessel in the Red Sea on December 31 using four armed boats. The container ship sent out distress calls and two military helicopters from the US warships USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely came to the rescue. During the action, the helicopters were fired upon. In self-defense, the helicopters returned fire and sank three of the Houthi rebels' boats, the fourth managed to escape. Fortunately, no one on the container ship and the helicopter crew were injured. This attack in the Red Sea shows once again that the container shipping companies cannot guarantee the safety of their crew if they choose to use the Red Sea (Bab el-Mandeb Strait) and the Suez Canal under the current circumstances. The diversion of ships around Africa instead of through the Suez Canal is therefore a precautionary measure that we will see as long as the Houthi rebels intend to attack ships in the Red Sea (Bab el-Mandeb Strait). We therefore see several shipping companies rerouting and others waiting out the situation safely outside the Red Sea. Currently, all shipping companies in THE Alliance (Hapag-Lloyd, ONE, YML, HMM) have announced that they are rerouting their ships around Africa that were intended to use the Red Sea (Bab el-Mandeb Strait) and the Suez Canal. Shipping companies in the Ocean Alliance (CMA-CGM, Cosco, OOCL, Evergreen) and 2M (Maersk & MSC) depending on which shipping company owns the boat on the individual departure, are rerouting their ships around Africa and have ships waiting out the situation safely outside the Red Sea. We follow the development closely within DSV and together with our local and global team we will keep you informed on an ongoing basis about the general situation and your shipments in particular. The situation changes quickly, and information is sometimes lacking. We hope for your understanding in this critical situation and urge you to have a close dialogue with your contact person at DSV. We also want to remind you that we at DSV can offer other solutions if you have shipments that are urgent and require faster lead times. In addition to regular air solutions, we can offer, among other things, sea/air solutions & express solutions via strategic hubs combined with tuck solutions. Contact your DSV contact person and we can help you find the solution that fits your needs in the current market. 1
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