December 21 2023 Customer Advisory Notice

Red Sea and Suez Canal

We have received notice from a number of Shipping Lines operating on services to/from Europe via the Suez Canal and Red Sea that given the recent heightened security incidents in the region and the escalating threats to vessels and their crew, emergency measures will be implemented effective immediately to ensure the safety and security of their crews, while remaining committed to ensuring the continuation of reliable and secure transportation services.

As a temporary measure, lines will avoid the Suez Canal and the Red Sea with immediate effect, alternatively routing ships around the Cape of Good Hope or have the vessels wait in a safe location.

The new routing is expected to add between 12 – 28 days to vessel transits as we and will impact imports and exports to/from Europe transhipping via Asia.

Though Shipping Lines are advising these measures are expected to be temporary we expect as with the Suez Canal closure for six days with the grounding of the Ever Given in March 2021 the impact will be felt for some time afterwards with equipment shortages in Asia driving up demand on all trade lanes globally and lines expected to introduce emergency surcharges in an effort to recover costs associated with the delays.

We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they come to hand.