While attacks on ships continue to follow one another, even yesterday in the Southern Red Sea region and the Gulf of Aden, with drones and missiles, almost all of which were shot down by the in the area, the Association of European Ports has expressed strong concern about the escalation of the situation is having a serious impact on the maritime supply chain and is leading to a new increase in sea freight rates with freight rates returning to extremely high levels applied by shipping companies during the pandemic of Covid-19.

"The situation in the Red Sea," the president explained of the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO), Zeno D'Agostino - the passage through the Suez Canal, which is the main maritime artery connecting Asia and Europe. This crisis is once again creating serious disruptions in the chain supply chain and is adding an element of uncertainty to the An already very difficult geoeconomic and geopolitical context. Longer routes and the possible reorganization of the stopovers in Europe - underlined D'Agostino - will have an impact on the ports, which will need to adapt and be flexible in order to maintain the supply chains. In the case of the Ever Given - recalled the president of ESPO referring to the ship that ran aground In March 2021, it had caused traffic to be blocked for six days in the Suez Canal - we were faced with one of the unfortunate accident and the solution depended on skills technical and operational. Now we are faced with an obstacle geopolitical impact on an important trade route, which makes it more The solution is difficult and unpredictable."

That the situation is very different from that of 2021 They also highlight the assurances expressed then and now Suez Canal Authority: if then the Egyptian body ensured a quick and effective intervention to remove the container ships and restore traffic, these days The Authority can only repeatedly ensure that the situation in the canal is normal and that the suspension of the transits of their ships in the Egyptian waterway decided by several shipping companies is only temporary. Aside the Egyptian Government, if it has condemned the military action of Israel is operating on the territory of the Gaza Strip and has sent humanitarian aid in the area, which these days has more mildly deplored the Houthis' attacks on ships in the Red Sea compared to the previous more vigorous condemnations of the attacks that these Iranian-backed militiamen have carried out attacks in recent years. years have led against installations and infrastructures in the Yemen. Evidently pressured by both internal problems the government in Cairo has not even supported a intervention of military naval forces in the region to restore the safety of maritime traffic, even if it has not expressed any criticism when, since the announcement of the "Prosperity" operation, U.S.-led Guardians, were sent to the ship area to counter the attacks of the Houthis.