After Houthi attacks: Swiss container shipping company MSC stops sailing through the Suez Canal. Federal Office wants to lift the suspensive effect on wolf shootings

Following attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on ships in the Red Sea, Geneva-based container shipping company MSC has temporarily halted its voyages through the Suez Canal. The world’s largest container shipping company wants to protect the lives of its seafarers.

A company-owned cargo ship was attacked by a drone on Friday while sailing through the Red Sea, MSC announced on Saturday. All crew members of the “MSC Palatium III” are doing well. Fire damage occurred to the ship. It was withdrawn from circulation.

As a result of the incident, MSC ships will no longer transit the Suez Canal to the east and west until passage through the Red Sea is safe, MSC said. Instead, the ships sail around the Cape of Good Hope, at the southernmost tip of Africa. The journeys take a few days longer.

The shipping companies Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will also no longer sail via the Suez Canal for the time being. The canal connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, making it the shortest sea route from Asia to Europe. About ten percent of all world trade passes through the Red Sea.

Militia wants to stop ships going to Israel

Since the start of the war between Israel and the radical Islamist Hamas, the Shiite Houthi militia in Yemen has repeatedly fired drones and missiles at Israel and attacked ships in the Red Sea. The Houthi rebels threaten to attack any ship bound for Israel unless food and medicine enter the Gaza Strip.

Recently, several merchant ships were attacked in the Red Sea. The Iran-backed rebels also fired on the container cargo ship ‘Al Jasrah’ in the strait between Yemen and Djibouti on Friday.

A British warship has shot down a suspected attack drone in the Red Sea, according to Defense Secretary Grant Shapps. The plane had the merchant navy in its sights, Shapps wrote on Saturday in the short message service X (formerly Twitter). The destroyer “HMS Diamond” fired a Sea Viper missile and destroyed the target. Shapps initially provided no further information about the drone’s origins. In addition to the “HMS Diamond”, the British Navy also operates the frigate “HMS Lancaster” as well as three mine hunters and an auxiliary ship in the region to protect civilian shipping.

British minister: threat to trade

A few days ago, a US Navy destroyer in the Red Sea responded to a distress call from a tanker that, according to US information, had been attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. According to the responsible US military regional command, Houthi forces attempted to board the tanker. But the attempt failed. Two missiles were then fired at the ship from areas of Yemen under Houthi control. Both would have missed their target. In addition, a drone launched from this area was shot down.

British Defense Secretary Shapps called the attacks a “direct threat to international trade and maritime security in the Red Sea.” London continues to strive to “defend these attacks.” The Royal Navy has had a continuous presence of ships in the region since 1980. In addition to the ‘HMS Diamond’, the frigate ‘HMS Lancaster’, three minehunters and an auxiliary ship are currently in service in the Gulf region.

(dabbing/sda/dpa)