Hapag-Lloyd shipping company to continue avoiding Suez Canal route until Jan. 9

A spokesperson for German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd stated that the company will continue to reroute its ships around the Suez Canal through the Cape Route citing security reasons. The decision comes after a missile attack and a swarm of boats launched by the Yemen’s Houthis on a vessel belonging to the Danish shipping giant Maersk.

According to the report, the spokesperson for Hapag-Lloyd, the world's fifth-largest container shipping company, stated that the company would continue to change the route of its ships until January 9. The company will make a decision on that day regarding whether to continue redirecting the ships or not.

The Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) have announced that it will continue to reroute its ships via the Cape route.

While Maersk temporarily suspended sailing in the Red Sea after the attack, it was among the first to return to sailing the Red Sea along with CMA and CGM.

Sailing through the Cape route adds several thousand miles compared to the Suez Canal, a route which about 12 percent of global trade goes through.