Oil giant BP joins mass exodus from Red Sea shipping as chemical tanker targeted

Decision to temporarily pause transit through strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait comes as US warship intervenes to protect Cayman Islands-flagged ship from multiple projectiles

The USS Carney in the Mediterranean Sea, on November 12, 2018. (Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ryan U. Kledzik/ US Navy via AP)
The USS Carney in the Mediterranean Sea, on November 12, 2018. (Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ryan U. Kledzik/ US Navy via AP)

Oil giant BP said it was pausing shipments of oil through the Red Sea Monday after recent attacks on vessels from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, sending energy prices spiking, as the Iran-backed rebel group launched a fresh assault on a tanker traversing the key waterway.

BP cited the “deteriorating security situation” as the reason for the temporary move, which followed several other major shippers saying they would avoid the route after a series of missile and drone attacks on vessels in the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

“The safety and security of our people and those working on our behalf is BP’s priority,” the company said. “In light of the deteriorating security situation for shipping in the Red Sea, BP has decided to temporarily pause all transits through the Red Sea. We will keep this precautionary pause under ongoing review, subject to circumstances as they evolve in the region.”

The attack on Monday targeted the Cayman Islands-flagged Swan Atlantic, a chemical and oil products carrier, with several projectiles at about 9 a.m. local time, a US official said on condition of anonymity.

The USS Carney, a US warship that provides security to ships in the area, responded to the incident, the official said.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which monitors Mideast shipping lanes, also reported “a possible explosion in the water” in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, off Yemen’s port of Mocha, and warned vessels in the area to exercise caution.

The Houthis in Yemen have fired several cruise missiles, drones, and ballistic missiles at Israel since Hamas’s surprise attack on October 7, in a campaign the rebel group says is aimed at ending the ongoing war in Gaza.

They did not immediately claim responsibility for Monday’s attack.

Armed Yemenis chant slogans during a march in solidarity with the people of Gaza on November 24, 2023, in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa. (Photo by MOHAMMED HUWAIS / AFP)

The BP announcement came days after one of the world’s largest shipping companies, Maersk, said it was suspending its vessels’ passage through the Bab al-Mandab Strait following the Houthi attacks, after one of its ships was nearly hit by a missile.

“Following the near-miss incident involving Maersk Gibraltar yesterday and yet another attack on a container vessel today, we have instructed all Maersk vessels in the area bound to pass through the Bab al-Mandab Strait to pause their journey until further notice,” the Danish company said in a statement to AFP Friday.

Italian-Swiss giant Mediterranean Shipping Company and France’s CMA CGM followed suit the next day.

German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd had also suspended Red Sea container ship traffic, but was slated to resume Monday.

War erupted in Gaza after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing over 240 hostages of all ages — mostly civilians — under the cover of a deluge of thousands of rockets fired at Israeli towns and cities.

In response, Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas and launched a widescale offensive aimed at rooting out the terror organization’s military and governance capabilities. The offensive has drawn international reproach for its mounting death toll, with the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza reporting over 18,800 Palestinians dead. However, the number cannot be independently verified and is believed to include some 7,000 Hamas and Hamas-affiliated terror operatives as well as thosekilled by misfired Palestinian rockets.

FILE – This photo released by the Houthi Media Center shows Houthi forces boarding the cargo ship Galaxy Leader, November 19, 2023. (Houthi Media Center via AP)

An estimated $1 trillion in goods pass through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait annually. The corridor is only 29 kilometers (18 miles) wide at its narrowest point, limiting traffic to two channels for inbound and outbound shipments, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Nearly 10% of all oil traded at sea passes through it.

Global shipping has increasingly been targeted as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to become a wider regional conflict — even during a brief pause in fighting at the end of November during which Hamas released 105 hostages and Israel freed 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Jacob Magid contributed to this report.

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