Red Sea Still a No-Go for Shipping Despite US-Houthi Ceasefire

It is unclear whether agreement applies to only American vessels, say analysts

- Peter Eavis

The largest commercial shipping companies continue to avoid the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, despite a recent ceasefire agreement between the US and the Houthis, which is intended to make the trade lanes safer.

The ceasefire, which began on May 6, ended a US campaign that involved more than 1,100 strikes against the Houthis in Yemen and became a source of embarrassment for the Trump administration after group chats about the strikes inadvertently became public.

The Pentagon had planned on a months-long bombardment, but President Donald Trump ended it after about 50 days.

"If the intention was to restore freedom of navigation, which is what they stated it was, then the results speak for themselves: The shipping industry has not gone back," said Mr Richard Meade, editor-in-chief of Lloyd's List, a shipping publication.

Ship traffic through the Red Sea is down by around three-fifths since 2023 when the Houthis started targeting ships there as a show of solidarity with Hamas in its war with Israel in the Gaza Strip, Mr Meade said.

Fearing that their vessels would be struck, big shipping companies have avoided the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, taking a much longer route around the southern tip of Africa to travel between Asia and Europe.

The Houthis have said they are still at war with Israel and will attack vessels bound for the country. And though the Houthis have not attacked a commercial vessel since December, shipping companies say they worry that their vessels may be hit, deliberately or mistakenly, and have no plans to sail the southern part of the Red Sea any time soon.