Hapag-Lloyd Says Red Sea Still Too Dangerous for Shipments as Houthi Attacks Continue

One of the world’s largest international shipping companies, Hapag-Lloyd, is continuing to avoid sending shipments through the Red Sea even as the international community is stepping up efforts to guard commercial ships against recent attacks. Earlier this month, Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk both paused traffic through the Red Sea after their vessels had come under drone and missile attacks launched from areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthi rebel movement. The two major international shipping companies subsequently began rerouting shipments around the Cape of Good Hope, sending them the long way around Africa to avoid additional attacks. Last week, the U.S. Department of Defense launched a new multilateral Red Sea maritime security mission dubbed Operation Prosperity Guardian. By Christmas Day, Maersk had announced plans to resume its Red Sea shipments, but as of Dec. 27 Hapag-Lloyd was still taking the added precaution of avoiding the Red Sea shipping lanes altogether....