December 22, 2023 – After a month of attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the number of boxships diverting away from the Red Sea-Suez Canal route is reaching epic proportions, according to supply chain insiders. This backbone of east-west trade is suddenly taking a back seat to the traditional route around the Cape of Good Hope, which adds 1,900 nautical miles and 10 days onto a typical Asia-North Europe container service. According to various sources, there were about 120 container ships totaling 700,000 TEU taking the Cape route as of Wednesday morning. This passage is made regularly by VLCCs and Capesize bulkers, which cannot fit through the Suez Canal, but is almost never used by boxships with their valuable and time-sensitive cargoes. The only other time in recent shipping history when boxships made a mass U-turn towards Africa’s southern tip was in 2021, when the boxship Ever Given went aground and fully blocked the Suez Canal for five days. We will advise our Canaan customers individually but please be advised that additional charges and delays will likely be incurred.