Indiscriminate attacks, missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on various ships in the Red Sea have forced the world’s top shipping companies to suspend shipping.
The list includes top shipping companies such as Danish shipping and logistics giant AP Moller-Maersk and German shipping and container transport company Hapag-Lloyd. These two companies transport 10 percent of global energy by sea.
The decisions to suspend them on Friday signal that major corporations are taking the security situation in the Red Sea seriously. As a result of this decision, the world oil market will be destabilized and its negative impact will go to the consumer level. However, many things also depend on how the world’s powerful and superpowers react to such a crisis, experts opined.
Over the past month, Houthi rebels have attacked oil tankers in the world’s most important waterway. The three ships they attacked on December 3 have made commercial shipping in the region even more dangerous. The Houthis also targeted the US warship USS Kearney, which went towards the aid of those three ships, but also targeted the drone attack. But all the drones were shot down.
After the start of an all-out attack by the Israeli forces in the besieged Gaza Strip of Palestine on October 7, there was concern about the supply of fuel oil. On the other hand, the announcement of reduction in the supply of countries belonging to the Organization of the Oil Producing Countries (OPEC) creates uncertainty and fog in the global supply of oil. CMC market expert Tina Teng, a global market analysis firm, said that as the indirect effects of the Gaza war spread to the Red Sea, the new oil market could have a negative impact. Analyzing the pattern of the war, it can be said that there are no signs of the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea stopping any time soon.
Colby Connelly, a senior analyst at Energy Intelligence, a Washington-based energy information firm, said the impact of the attacks in the Red Sea would have limited impact on the oil market. But it is not to be completely denied.
He said, “Since these attacks are still going on, the impact is being seen in the market. Crude oil prices were higher at the end of the week compared to the last few days. Because such attacks do not appear to have any effective efforts by Middle East policymakers to curb them.
