Due to the influence of the Houthi armed forces in Yemen, the number of bulk cargo ships passing through the Suez Canal is rapidly decreasing

On June 20, 2024, MarineTraffic, the global maritime transportation information dissemination agency, announced on its official X account (formerly Twitter) that the volume of bulk cargo ships transported through the Suez Canal had sharply decreased.

According to data released by MarineTraffic, the number of bulk carriers passing through the Suez Canal in June 2024 decreased sharply from 118 to only 24, a decrease of 79.6% compared to June 2023. The influence of the Houthi armed forces, a Yemeni anti-government force, who launched attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea, is considered the main reason.

The Houthis have expressed their cooperation with Hamas, the Islamic force that actually controls the Gaza Strip in Palestine. Therefore, since October 2023, when civilian ships sailing in the surrounding area are identified as ships related to Israel, the Houthis have used cruise missiles, drones, and self destructing drones to attack, and have stated that as long as Israel does not stop its attacks on Gaza, they do not intend to reduce the intensity of their attacks.

In addition to the US and UK navies deploying warships immediately after Israel launched an attack on Gaza in the Red Sea region, the EU and India have recently dispatched ships to escort merchant ships, but the actual damage has not been contained. On June 18th, the Houthis attacked and sank a Greek coal transport ship. In March of this year, a British cargo ship was also sunk.

In addition, according to the Clipper website, which publishes global trade information, insurance premiums on the Red Sea route are soaring due to the sinking of Greek coal transport ships, which is expected to further increase the costs for ship owners and potentially reduce the number of merchant ships passing through the Suez Canal in the future.