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Houthi Minister Says Vessels Entering Yemeni Waters Must Get a Permit First

Misfer Al-Numair, the Houthi Telecommunications Minister, said on Monday that vessels will need to secure a permit from the Yemeni Houthi-led Maritime Affairs Authority before entering Yemeni waters. Houthis have launched several drones as well as missiles against the global commercial shipping in the waters of the Gulf of Aden from last year, around mid-November, declaring that they were acting in solidarity with the Palestinians against the Israeli offensive in Gaza. The daily attacks have compelled firms into costly and lengthy diversions via southern Africa. Those have also stoked apprehensions that the Israel-Hamas war might destabilize the Middle East. The US as well as Britain forces have bombed Houthi targets in reply. The relevant bodies are prepared to assist with the requests for permits and also identify vessels with Yemen’s Navy, and they confirm this is out of concern for their security and safety, per Al Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by the Iran-led Houthi movement, reported Al-Numair to be saying. The territorial waters impacted by Yemen’s order extended halfway out into the 20-km wide Bab al-Mandab Strait, the relatively narrow entrance of the Red…

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Cargill Reports Encouraging Results from 6-Month Sail Test on Bulker

Cargill Ocean Transportation, the ocean shipping arm of the commodities giant, is reporting encouraging results largely in line with projections after the first six months of testing of wind-assisted propulsion aboard a Kamsarmax bulker. Data from the Pyxis Ocean (81,000 dwt) will be used according to Cargill to inform the potential scale-up across the fleet and industry as well as providing learning to further improve the design, operation, and performance of the solid sail technology. After a partnership that began in 2019 to develop the wind technology, Cargill working with UK-based start-up BAR Technologies moved forward with the first installation of the sails on the 751-foot (229 meter) vessel completing the work in Shanghai in August 2023. The vessel built in 2017 was retrofitted with two 150 feet (37 meter) rigid sails made of a compositive material not unlike the blades for wind turbines.  During the first six months, the vessel which is owned and operated by MC Shipping, a division of Mitsubishi, has completed three voyages. It crossed the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans, sailed around Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope, and encountered all types of…

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Red Sea Disruption Drives Up Container Leasing Rates

The capacity constraints created by the Red Sea security crisis have raised container shipping rates on Asia-Europe and Asia-U.S. East Coast routes, with knock-on effects on other lanes - and the leasing rates for empty boxes are rising too, according to Container XChange. Core China-U.S. routes are particularly affected.  The container brokerage reports that box capacity is getting tied up by the long transit around the Cape of Good Hope, which increases voyage times by 10 days or more. According to the firm's tracking, average container lease rates are now triple what they were a year before, and much of the increase has happened since Yemen's Houthi rebels began attacking shipping in the Red Sea.  The firm's contacts also report that the disruption is indeed shifting more cargo to the U.S. West Coast, as previously reporteds. "Many importers are already rerouting cargo via West Coast transloading and trucking across to the [East] coast, adding pressure on railways and domestic carriers," one California forwarder shared with Container xChange.  A healthy Western consumer economy is contributing to positive sentiment in the leasing market, according to the firm. American appetite for…

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