All Japanese shipping companies abandons route through Red Sea

Japanese shipping companies have completely stopped transporting goods through the Red Sea due to the aggravation of the situation there, Azernews reports, citing a representative of the Overseas Transportation Department of the Maritime Department of the Ministry of Public Lands, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan.

"Decisions on routes are made by private shipping companies," he said. "However, I know that they have stopped moving through the Red Sea and have chosen the route around the Cape of Good Hope in the extreme south of Africa to deliver goods to Europe and back."

The increase in transportation time with such a route change, the official noted, depends on the characteristics of the vessels. "However," said a ministry spokesman. "on average, as I have heard, it has increased by about a week."

"If we talk about Japanese cargo," the official noted, "then as of last year, specialized vessels for transporting cars were moving through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea the most. Container ships were in second place, followed by bulk carriers of mixed filling."

Shipping companies in Japan, the official noted, received warnings about the danger of such a route, in particular, from the relevant American authorities.

As a result of shelling by Houthi rebels from the Ansar Allah movement, experts believe that the total volume of global maritime traffic will decrease by 20 percent. This could cause disruptions in global supply chains and lead to an overall increase in prices due to higher transportation costs, the Nikkei economic newspaper noted. Abandoning the route through the Red Sea and switching to the route through the Cape of Good Hope, taking into account the cost of fuel, insurance, etc., increases the cost of shipping one 40-foot container by more than three times to 6.6 thousand dollars.

Approximately 30 percent of all cargo transportation in the world is carried out in sea containers. In value terms, this amounts to $1 trillion per year. About 10 percent of all container traffic previously followed through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. This route is especially important for the transportation of goods between Europe and East Asian countries.