Among the leading containerized shipping companies the European Union have decided not to let their ships in the Red Sea, and therefore in the Suez Canal, due to the attacks with drones, missiles and boats with armed men on board that have been conducted in the last few days against ships in sail near the Bab el Mandeb Strait and launch from the Yemeni coast controlled by Houthi militiamen. The decision of European maritime carriers to avoid the area has been hired after the container ship Maersk Gibraltar of Denmark's Maersk Line, the world's second-largest carrier of the sector, was targeted but not hit, incident to which was followed by the one that occurred to the container holder Al Jasrah of Germany's Hapag-Lloyd, who was hit by a missile, an impact that - announced on Saturday the Philippine Department of Migrant Workers - did not cause any injuries among the 15 Filipino seafarers on board the ship. Probably the one which has led European companies to break the deadlock and abandon the shortest sea route between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean were Friday's subsequent attacks container ships MSC Alanya and MSC Palatium III, with the first ship of the MSC group to be targeted but not hit, and with the second, leased by MSC to the investee Ignazio Messina & C., hit by a missile that started a small fire but It did not cause any injuries among the crew members.

MSC, world leader in the container shipping industry, was the first to formalize the decision not to transit their ships through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, to customers, and announced that some of its services were diverted to the Cape of Good Hope.

A similar decision was taken by the French CMA CGM whereas, announcing that in recent days it has taken measures to ensure the safety of ships and crews employees in the region, announced that it had communicated to all the container ships that would have to cross the Sea Red to head to safe areas and disrupt their travel until further notice.

With statements by Maersk spokespeople collected by agencies international press releases, the Danish company has also made it known that it had instructed all its ships that they should have transit through the Bab el Mandeb Strait to suspend its operations until further notice.

Meanwhile, in the hours following these incidents, More attacks followed. The U.S. Central Commend has announced that the destroyer USS Carney, in service in the Red Sea, shot down 14 drones launched from an area of Yemen controlled by the Houthis, without any damage to the ships present in the waters in the area and no injuries. In addition, the British minister Minister of Defence, Grant Shapps announced that in the Red Sea, the Destroyer HMS Diamond dismissed a suspect attack carried out with a drone directed towards a merchant ship, destroying the device with a Sea Viper missile. Shapps has specified that the British military ship has recently to contribute to international efforts to ensuring the safety of maritime traffic: 'The recent The wave of illegal attacks - he pointed out - represents a direct threat to international trade and maritime safety in the Red Sea. The United Kingdom - said Shapps - continues to be committed to repelling these attacks to safeguard the free flow of trade World Championships'.

The series of accidents in the Red Sea is obviously likely to have a a strong negative impact on maritime traffic in the Suez Canal. Yesterday the Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, Osama Rabie, pointed out that navigation in the canal was taking place regularly and whereas the Authority is closely monitoring the situation of ongoing tension in the Red Sea and is assessing its impact on the transits in the canal following the announcement of some to temporarily divert their ships to the Cape of Good Hope. In this regard, Rabie pointed out that among the 19 November and today there were only 55 ships that were not Transit through the Egyptian canal deciding to opt for the circumnavigation Africa, that is, a small percentage of the compared to the 2,128 ships that transited the Suez Canal in the period. In addition, Rabie specified that yesterday the channel was crossed by 77 ships, including some ships - such as the Maersk Saigon, CMA CGM Christophe Colomb and MSC Fabienne - Airline members have announced temporary changes of their routes to avoid transit through the Suez Canal.