BP suspends Red Sea traffic after fresh attacks

BP has suspended tanker traffic through the Red Sea in response to a fresh wave of attacks on merchant ships near the Gulf of Aden.

"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," the company said.

BP's decision follows a spate of attacks on vessels in the region by Yemen's Houthi rebels. The UK Marine Trade Operations (UKMTO) issued four alerts on 18 December about attacks south of Yemen's port of Mokha in the vicinity of the Bab al-Mandeb strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

In the first alert, UKMTO reported a possible explosion in the water "2 nautical miles off of the vessels quarters" at 30 nautical miles south of Mokha. The agency later reported incidents 24 nautical miles to the southeast of Mokha and 63 nautical miles northwest of Djibouti.

Freight sources told Argus that up to six vessels could have been attacked today, including oil tankers the Ploeg and the Swan Atlantic.

The Houthis began targeting Israeli-linked vessels in the region in response to Israel's military action in Gaza. They have since pledged to prevent the navigation of all ships heading to Israel regardless of nationality.

Danish shipping giant Moller-Maersk and Germany-based containership operator Hapag-Lloyd said on 15 December that they will suspend all vessel passages through the Red Sea, the former until further notice and the latter until today.

By Elshan Aliyev