Major suspension of sailings + suspension of bookings! COSCO/Evergreen/ONE/OOCL shipping companies have suspended cargo pickup

In the latest news, a HMM merchant ship was attacked in the Red Sea, making HMM the latest liner company to suspend navigation in the Red Sea due to the attack. A spokesman for HMM said that due to the intensified geopolitical risks in the Red Sea region, the decision was made to avoid the Suez Canal and bypass the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. On the 18th, Yang Ming Shipping’s official website issued an announcement. In view of the recent continued risk of attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, in order to ensure the safety of Yang Ming crew members, ships and cargo, it will not limit the number of ships that may sail through high-risk sea areas currently or in the next two weeks. The ship will immediately detour to the Cape of Good Hope or wait at a safe location.

According to media reports on the 18th, BP stated that in view of the deteriorating shipping safety situation in the Red Sea, the company announced the suspension of all its oil tanker transportation through the Red Sea.

On the 18th, The Paper reporter learned exclusively from freight forwarders that due to the impact of the international situation, COSCO Shipping, Orient Overseas Shipping and Evergreen Shipping have verbally informed them to suspend the pickup of cargo on the Red Sea route. Ocean Network Shipping ONE has also verbally informed that it will suspend cargo pickup on the Red Sea route.

The press release mentioned that Maersk and CMA CGM informed early on the morning of December 18 that the status of cargo pickup in the Red Sea direction would have to wait for notification from the headquarters.

In addition, some freight forwarders said that Mediterranean Shipping MSC is currently only notifying that it will detour around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and has not suspended cargo pickup in the relevant direction. Hapag-Lloyd has informed that, except for VIP customers, bookings on the West Coast and East Coast of the Middle East route, the Red Sea route, and the Mediterranean route will be suspended until further notice.

As of now, it is certain that Evergreen Shipping and Orient Overseas OOCL have issued notices on their official websites to suspend the receipt of Israeli import and export goods.

Evergreen’s official website issued an announcement on the 18th stating that in view of the sharp escalation of the situation in the Red Sea in recent days and due to risk and safety considerations, Evergreen Shipping will suspend Israeli import and export services with immediate effect until further notice.

According to the Blue Whale reporter from the Financial Associated Press on the 18th, we learned from multiple freight forwarding companies that a freight forwarder has received a notice from Evergreen Shipping: Affected by the international situation, all booking operations in the Red Sea have been suspended. No changes will be made without booking, and new bookings are temporary. No answer.

At the same time, OOCL’s official website issued a notice that due to operational issues, it will immediately stop accepting goods to and from Israel until further notice.

The Paper reports that Ocean Network Shipping Company ONE has also verbally informed that it will suspend cargo pickup on the Red Sea route. The Financial Associated Press report more specifically pointed out that a freight forwarder revealed that Ocean Network has notified that it will stop receiving Israeli goods in January, and is also considering a significant price increase on European routes.

Information provided by another freight forwarder shows: ONE including AR1/MD1/MD3 routes have stopped all services, and the container management has stopped releasing the boxes that have been booked but not picked up. Please arrange customs clearance, and further notice will be given for the boxes that have been picked up. However, no further notice has been released on the official website yet.