Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea risk reigniting global supply chain crisis
Maritime Institute of Technology instructor Capt. James Staples, who has personally responded to pirates, breaks down the Houthi Red Sea attacks on 'The Claman Countdown.'
Attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi militants on commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea, a critical juncture point for world trade, risk reigniting a supply chain crisis just as the global economy begins to recover from high inflation, chronic shortages and bottlenecks.
Shipping costs are already on the rise eight weeks after the Yemeni rebel group first began targeting ships sailing through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
About 15% of world shipping traffic, including 30% of global container trade, passes through the Suez Canal. But to avoid being attacked or having their cargo stolen, many ships are instead sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, which is the long way around the continent of Africa.
«This has added significant cost, and also significant delays, to shipments that are coming from the Middle East, to and from Europe, and other regions in that area, that rely on the Suez Canal a great deal,» Robert Handfield, a professor of operations and supply chain management at North Carolina State University, told FOX Business.
US-UK COALITION STRIKE IRAN-BACKED HOUTHI TARGETS IN YEMEN AFTER SPATE OF SHIP ATTACKS IN RED SEA
A cargo ship crosses the Suez Canal, one of the most critical human-made waterways, in Ismailia, Egypt, on Dec. 29, 2023. (Photo by Fareed Kotb/Anadolu via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Ship traffic tumbled about 30% in the period between Jan. 1 and Jan. 11 when compared with the same time one year ago, according to Suez Canal Authority chief Osama Rabie. The number of vessels that traveled through the canal this year fell to
Read more on foxbusiness.com
