International Situation Update - March 13, 2025

Today is day 478 of the Red Sea crisis. Unsurprisingly, the Houthies have now declared that they will be attacking what they call “any Israeli ship” in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, Gulf of Aden and the Arabian sea as their stipulated deadline for Israel to resume humanitarian aid deliveries was not met.

Whilst no actual attacks have at this point been reported, UKMTO did report electronic interference seen from multiple ships in the Strait of Hormuz disrupting navigational systems and requiring vessels to use backup methods.

The whiplash back-and-forth regarding the US tariff wars continue. The announcement of 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum on Canada was removed just as quickly as it was announced, and at the same time the export tax on electricity from Ontario to the US was also removed as quickly as it was announced.

The US 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum against the entire world came into effect today. The EU has stated that they will retaliate with counter-tariffs on roughly 28 Billion USD worth of US goods starting in April. They have not yet announced which specific goods will be targeted.

Shippers hoping to plan for a stable supply chain to and from the US need to stay very patient indeed.

The consolidation in the container terminal sector continues, although at a less spectacular scale than the sale last week by Hutchinson. Hapag-Lloyd’s terminal arm Hanseatic Global Terminals has bought a 60% stake in the Atlantique terminal in Le Havre. This will further strengthen the operational control the Gemini partners have in this port which is also one of the nodes in the Gemini network.


Source: Lars Jensen